The Art of Dragging Things Out
by AcrossTheOcean
Summary: For Hayner, this job means his chance to stay away from the States; being an Au Pair is an answer to his problems. To Seifer, this is just weird that some stranger will be babysitting his daughter. The rest of us know exactly what it means. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, faithful readers. As a celebration of me and Reyaa knowing each other for exactly one year, we present the first chapter of a new story, one we swore would never happen as we were done with fanfiction. But...thank goodness for vacations:D Hope you enjoy this and we'll see you in a week for more.**

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><p><strong>Hayner<strong>

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Dublin! The local time is 4:45 pm with temperatures at about 13 degrees Fahrenheit and with slightly cloudy skies. We thank you for flying Ireland Air, and please enjoy your stay." Smirking up at the small speaker above my seat, I quickly glanced around trying to gauge exactly how awake everyone else was around me.

It would make my departure a lot quicker if they would just let me jump past them, but after witnessing some poor guy get whacked in the face by an old blue-hairs purse, I thought I might be better served just waiting for everyone else to get the hell off.

The seats weren't too uncomfortable and I sighed as I leaned back and checked my contact info one last time before getting off the last little bit of comfort zone that I clung to. The moment I got off this plane, there was no turning back when it came to this job. An au pair. Which, come to find out was not some sort of groundskeeper or even handyman. No, basically what the nice older guy sitting next to me had told me was I could look forward to babysitting 70 percent of my day; the rest spent cooking and cleaning for said babysitting charge.

I swear, if I got my hands on that career agent, I was gonna sock him one. But, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I glanced over and noticed that the front half of the plane was now gloriously empty, so I jumped up, grabbed my duffel bag and quickly fell in line and made it off the plane in less than four minutes.

Breathing in the fresh air or as much as would pass through the small space between the door and those tunnel things that extend to the plane, I decided that so far, this wasn't all bad. My shoulders were jostled slightly from behind as I made my way towards the exit area so I could find myself a taxi.

Thank goodness I didn't have to wait for any baggage; everything I owned at this moment was in my duffel bag, including my sadly dwindling wallet. Hence this wonderful new job. It costs money to stay in Europe and if this was the only way to do it, then so be it.

"Hey, can you take me to this address?" I asked a cabby, who reminded me instantly of a ferret, and showed him the slip of paper with Ms. Aerith Gainsborough's address on it. Hopefully, if I understood correctly, she would be paying for my ride from the airport to her house as she was unable to pick me up herself. Let's hope that was true cause I highly doubted that I had enough for half a block, let alone to another city.

After giving me a once over, which I tried not to flush under, the cabby nodded once and opened the door to his car. And I know I'm going to look back now and laugh about this, but was it my fault when he opened the fucking RIGHT side that I forgot about them driving on the wrong side of the road and almost made a fool of myself by getting in?

He shot me a scathing look and I quickly flushed and opened the back door and hopped inside. I rolled my eyes at myself for forgetting something like that. I sure as hell hope this wasn't some sign that this whole thing was going to be some sort of crazy idea gone wrong.

"Holy fuck..." My voice sounded small to my ears after almost an hour inside the small taxi. With my nose pressed against the window, I got my first look at the Gainsborough home. Home? Holy shit, the place was a fucking ESTATE! Like straight out of Beverly Hills - mansion size! This was where I was going to be living and working? For a small town kinda guy like me, it was almost unreal.

The gates opened and I continued to stare like an idiot as we drove up the driveway and stopped in front of some kind of fountain. I blinked as a very nice looking woman stepped down from two very giant doors, smiling as she waited for the taxi to stop. I gulped and gripped my duffel tightly and took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Hayner?" I assumed this was Aerith, her hand up in the air as she waved my way, offering me a kind and gentle smile. Not quite sure who else she expected me to be, but all right. "Hayner Allen, yes?" Her voice was laced with a barely present Irish accent, thankfully, as I'd heard the accent could resemble to sounds of aliens sometimes. She quickly walked over to the cab, sending me another smile as she handed the driver the money before turning so she could give me all her attention.

"Did you have an okay trip? Must have been tiring. I've only flown to America once, if I didn't do it twice it's because it's so very long."

I offered her my hand and gave her my best professional smile. "It was long, but worth it. You have a lovely home." Lovely home? The place was a fucking palace. I tried to keep my self-satisfied smirk off my face, but it was hard. I could totally rock this place.

She pointed her smile up at the mansion, "It was my parents, inherited it along with one of those pots of gold you find at the end of a rainbow leprechauns help you find your way to." She then gestured for me to follow her to the entrance, "I suggest you avoid playing hide and seek with Penelo until you find your way around the place, otherwise she'll win every round."

I nodded and followed her up the stairs, trying to keep my jaw from dropping as the doors opened into a giant foyer, the gay side of me informing me that the flooring was oak and the walls were probably marble. I wasn't too sure about how the Irish viewed homosexuals, but I'd learned to play it close to the vest anyways.

"How old is Penelo?"

"She's eight years old." Halting, she turned towards me again, "Now, I could lie and tell you she's an angel, but she'll make sure to uncover said lie in the first five minutes you meet her." Noticing the eye twitch, she gave me a toothy grin, "Don't get too worried now, she might not be the most behaved child, but she's far from extreme. Currently she wants to become a singer." And now she cringed, "Do you have any idea how hard it is for a mother to tell her daughter she sings off key? My windows shiver every time she belts out a note."

Chuckling at that, I noticed the pictures that hung along the far wall above the fireplace. A small girl, with blonde pigtails mostly, seemed to be the main focus of it all. She was pretty cute, for a kid. And thank goodness she was older, because I wasn't about to be changing diapers and shit.

"She's adorable, ma'am." I said, hoping to look sincere and not like a creeper. Clearing my throat, I went ahead and asked the main question on my mind and hoped not to reveal my complete ignorance about this job. "What can you tell me about my duties?" That should be professional right?

"Oh!" She shoved the duffel bag off my shoulder, taking my arm then and quickly dragging me off to wherever, "Just Aerith, no Ma'am." She instructed, "We're going to the garden. I'd give you a tour, but I'd rather just tell you were everything is located and let you wander off on your own and become familiar with the place at your own pace. Now," She let go off my arm, opening a wooden door further along the wall where the chimney was. Once open, she stepped in, telling me to do the same, and when I did; I realized we suddenly were standing in a garden. She chuckled at my frown.

"The house is shaped as a square, the middle of cut out, so to speak, making space for the garden, so basically you'll find all the rooms circling the garden. Every room has a door that leads to, well, here."

She gestured at the large square shaped garden, cherry blossoms planted randomly around the place, the grass freshly cut, flowers blooming here and there, small benches to sit on and a pond with a couple of fish for a center piece. Walking over to one of the benches, she then started to pour two cups of tea, making me realize she'd already prepared for us to talk.

"Kitchen and living room are on the left. My quarters and Penelo's are at the back. The second living room which we mostly use as an entrance truly, is at the front, which we just came from, and you'll find the guest rooms, one of them yours with a bathroom, on the right side of the square shaped castle, as Penelo likes to call it."

I dropped a couple of sugar cubes from the tray into the tea, hoping that I'd sweetened it enough. It was hard to understand the whole tea concept, and the only way I could down the stuff was super sweet. Nodding along, I glanced around as she was describing things and became more and more anxious about the job. Would I be expected to clean it all or something? And most important, did my room come with a TV?

"I have a maid, her name is Jenny, she comes in twice a week, and a gardener, Jack, who comes twice a month, so you're not expected to do any of that, although I naturally do ask you to clean up after yourself and supervise Penelo when she puts her toys and such away."

She sipped some of her tea, sighing contently, "I go to work early in the morning, but get off at a reasonable hour late afternoon, so while I'll expect you to take care of Penelo in the mornings, getting her up, feeding her, making sure she's got all she needs for school and that her clothes are clean? The moment I get home I take her off your hands." She nodded firmly, more at herself than me.

"You may eat dinner with us in the evening if you'd like, but don't worry, I don't expect you to do this every single evening, or ever if you really don't want too." She smiled at me then, "But I hope you'll be comfortable and find my little family fun enough to hang out with us from time to time during your time off if you've got nothing else to do. I just want you to feel at home."

I could only nod at that, not sure how I felt about it. What did I know about feeling at home with someone I'd just barely met? I was sort of curious about Aerith's husband and the part he played in all of this, but I figured I'd meet the guy whenever. Plus, this actually sounded like something I could handle, feeding and taking care of a kid for a bit in the mornings and what not. Thinking about it a moment longer, I wondered about the downside of this...

"It sounds very good." I said. "I do have my driver's license, so I am able to drive Penelo to school if need be."

"Yes, I do expect you to do this." She placed her cup of tea on the tray before leaning backwards to grab her purse, pulling out a small notepad and a key. "You'll have your own car, it's nothing fancy, but it's in good working order and will do the job. I'll cover the expenses for gas when it comes to driving Penelo to school. I'll need you to pick her up and get her started on homework, entertain her a while until I get home, which is at four thirty in the afternoon. Penelo gets off school at three, and she goes in at nine in the morning."

She handed me the keys. "Don't use it right away, I'm going to have my ex husband, Penelo's father, show you how to work a car on the left side of the road as it may take you a time or two before you get comfortable with the gears."

Then she gave me the notebook, "I wrote down all I expect you to do in here so you can look over them, if you disagree with anything, come to me and we'll discuss it and I'll see what I can do to change it."

She sighed then, looking a tad overwhelmed, "I've only had one sitter before, a girl a year younger than you, and it didn't go so well, so I'm a bit nervous. The company I spoke to that recommended you managed to make me feel a bit more sure about this fit though." She bit her lip, "Okay, enough rambling. Do you have any questions? Anything you'd like to know? Penelo will be home shortly, she's out with my boyfriend right now, and I wanted us to have a moment to speak without interruptions before you met her."

"Um, if you are divorced," I cleared my throat, trying to figure out how to ask this delicately, "Will Penelo be spending time with her father? And if so, will my services be needed there?"

She chuckled, "Yes, I'm divorced. We're on good terms though, so you won't need to worry about any issues there." She shrugged, "My ex husband lives close by, so Penelo spends one week here with me, one week at her dads, back a week with me, etc, etc."

Another sip of her tea, "I personally need you as I just started working, I wasn't before, which is why I hired you. My ex hubby is a farmer, so he's always in close proximity and tends to drag Penelo out into the fields and among the animals, but she's eight now, so he'll soon realize he won't be able to keep her occupied very long by pointing her gaze at a cow. Her attention span has shrunk down to zero."

She grinned, "Basically, it is up to him. If he feels he needs an au-pair, then, much like Penelo, you'll move back and forth between the two houses with her, if not, then you'll stay here and well, wait till she gets back from her dad's."

"That sounds good." Thank goodness there didn't seem to be much drama about the divorce from what she was saying. I didn't really wanna be caught in between that sort of mess. Suddenly, I yawned. Blushing, I covered my mouth and tried to explain. "Er, sorry. I guess it was a longer flight than I thought."

"Jet lag." She nodded knowingly. "Evil bugger, truly. All right, well, I didn't expect you to start working right away, and since it's the weekend, I'll be here to look over Penelo myself while you get to know her a bit before school and work start again." Standing, she pointed at the four doors on the right side of the square, pretty much behind us from where we were located.

"Pick whichever room you prefer, towels under the sink and there's plenty of closet space." Patting my shoulder, she gave me another smile, "I'll leave you to yourself. If you're hungry, don't be shy, find the kitchen and raid the cabinets. Food is included along with the roof over your head, and before I let you go, I was thinking a hundred Euros a week should be good for the job you're doing. Now that I've told you all you'd most likely needed to hear, I shall go off and continue to read my lovely book before my daughter comes home and starts playing that karaoke game of hers again and makes it impossible for me to read another word." And then she was off.

Wow, that woman sure could talk. But I guess it made sense. This was essentially my orientation for a new job and who knew when I'd really be able to talk to her again. She sounded pretty busy. Grabbing my duffel, I picked a random door, and took in a sort of walk in suite with a small couch, TV, and an open door to a bathroom to the side. The giant bed that I could see further in called my name however, and the last thing I remember was kicking my shoes off and hoping the sun wasn't gonna set through my window.

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><p><strong>Seifer - the following weekend<strong>

Frowning deeply, I stared through the small kitchen door window Aerith's house offered, giving view on the garden.

"When my daughter called me to tell me how excited she was for me to finally meet her new friend you hired to be her babysitter, I thought I had to go and call up a child therapist to have them check her out for imaginary friends, since I know you well enough to know that you, Aerith, never were for babysitters. Yet here I am-" I pointed at my daughter sitting on the grass, talking animatedly at a young fellow listening to whatever it was she was saying while I pointed my own confused gaze at my ex wife standing beside me, "looking at earlier mentioned imaginary friend. Please tell me Penelo lied when she said you imported him from America."

Aerith rolled her eyes at me, and nodded. "He's from America, but it's not like I called over there looking for him. I had the agency send me a couple of applications and his stood out. And Penelo loves him so far, so you be nice."

My upper lip crinkled up, "Well, all right..." A mutter. "You could have just asked me to watch her, you know?" Then again, I had all these cows to milk, sheep to shave and horses to teach how to behave. "Then again..." I puffed out some air, knowing she'd point all that out to me the way I said it in my own head. "Fine. Still though, you could have, I don't know, used the phone? I'm that girl's father, next time warn me when you decide to bring in a-" I frowned, "au-what-you-call-it?"

"Au-pair. And when was the last time you actually answered the phone?" A glare was sent my way as she said that. "I called you twice last week, and all I got was a very long annoyed voicemail message; too long to actually give a care and leave one." She handed me a cup of tea.

I handed it back, "You know I hate tea, Aerith, have ever since I stepped foot in this godforsaken wet country. What is with the weather?" I shouted at the roof, gritting my teeth as those damn rain drops had become a sound I was much too familiar with today. "And I hate the phone too, you know that as well, but my house is what? A ten minute drive away? You could have just come over." I muttered stubbornly, grabbing the freaking tea cup anyways and gulping it down, smacking my lips and pulling a grimace as my tongue felt kinda hot now.

"Seifer, relax. He's been wonderful so far, and it's not like you two will clash or anything. Oh, on that note, I'll need you to give him some pointers about driving on the left side of the road and anything else along those lines. You have all weekend, and don't give me that line about working all the time. I know you hired some help now that you're doing better." She gave me a knowing look.

I snorted, "Teaching a Yankee how to drive on the CORRECT side of the road? What's going on in that brain of yours, woman? My death?" I imitated her father, having overheard him when Aerith's mom told the man to teach me how to drive on the left side when I'd come here in Ireland years back now.

She laughed and shook her head. "Just make sure you leave Penelo with your foreman while you do it. I don't want her to pick up on any questionable language you two might run into." She glanced at her watch. "I've got to get going, call me if you need anything." She kissed my cheek and waved me off.

"Woah!" I shouted, reaching out to grab her arm and stop her, "You just gonna leave me with him and fend for myself?" I nervously looked back at my daughter and the au-something. "What am I gonna do with him?"

"Dear lord." She gently removed my hand. "He's not a child. Man up, and just collect them both. He knows what is expected. Just, talk to him. I'm sorry, but I've really got to go. Good luck!"

Eyes wide, I watched her walk off willy nilly, "See, I had good reasons to divorce your ass!" I shouted after her, which only got me another laugh on her part. Rolling my eyes at her retreating figure, I put the freaking tea cup away and pursed my lips back at the scene that created a large obstacle in my very comfortable routine. What the hell was I gonna do with him? Grumbling under my breath, I pushed the door open, stepping out into the garden. If I couldn't figure it out, I'd just leave him in Penelo's capable hands.

"Hey baby girl!" I called out, forgetting my discomfort for the moment as I grinned at the little thing with two blond pig tails for a mop of hair, her pants as always, twice her size.

"Daddy!" She squealed, and jumped up to give me a hug. Thank god she was still at an age that it was deemed okay for her to still hug me. I knew it couldn't last forever and I dreaded the teenage years. "Are we going to your house now?"

I held her close, closing my eyes and breathing in deeply. Weeks were forever without her. "We sure are. You got all the things you wanna bring with you?" Giving her a quick kiss, I set her back down, smiling as she nodded at me and pointed at the bag the au-thingy was holding. Okay, now, I had to be nice. Aerith said I had to be nice. I was gonna be nice. Determined, I tried to make myself look friendly as I stuck my hand out towards him.

"I'm the dad. Would have introduced myself sooner had the ex wife told me you were here in the first place." Wait... I frowned at my most likely rude sounding tone, my daughter giggling at my side.

"He's not very good at meeting new people." Penelo said, saving my ass.

The young man gave me a pleasant smile, and stuck his hand out in return. "Nice to meet you. I'm Hayner, Penelo's au pair, as I'm sure you've heard." He had soft brown eyes, with seemingly wavy but at the same time short dirty-blond hair. Dressed in simple cargo shorts and t-shirt, he didn't really seem the babysitting type.

"Hayner. I'll remember. Au-" I wrinkled my nose, "Why the f don't they just call you a babysitter?" I shook my head, not needing an answer. "Right, so I'm Seifer Almasy, the dad as I said earlier. I'm not good with new people, but as the situation has it, I'm sorta gonna have to try. Excuse me if I misstep on occasion, I'm sure my smart ass of a daughter will correct me when I'm being rude." Giving him a nod, I pointed towards the exit. "I'm supposed to bring you along so I can show you how to drive on the wrong side of the road."

He laughed, and nodded, grabbing a small duffel bag as he prepared to follow me to the car. "It wasn't too bad when I tried it on my own this week, but I could certainly use the practice." He pushed his hair out of his face and asked in a slightly hesitant voice, "So, um, I'm not sure what to expect at your place. Can you give me an idea about what you'll need me to do?"

"Well, I didn't actually know I was bringing you along when I came here to get Penelo." Picking up Penelo, I tossed her onto my shoulders, happy to hear her laugh as she settled herself there comfortably, pressing her nose against my forehead when I bent through my knees to make our way through the door. Making my way out of the house, I gestured for him to step out first before locking up and shoving the key onto the outdoor lantern. "I figure we'll just start with the driving and, err, well, you can tag along while-"

"We feed the horses, ride the horses, milk the cows, shave the sheep and shovel the stables!" Penelo declared loudly, leading me to pat her on the leg, looking over at Hayner.

"That. I never had a babysitter before, so I don't know if I actually need one, but you're welcome to stick around and see if I do."

Giving me another smile, he nodded. "And I don't mind helping out if you need it. Mainly, I'm just here as a sort of child monitor while you work, I guess. Keep her occupied with parent approved activities. And I'll take her to school during the week and everything."

I pursed my lips, the frown fading some, "Your own personal driver, eh?" I tickled Penelo, "Not bad. Well, my house is certainly not as huge as Aerith's, but I got a room you can stay in. You won't get your own TV and bathroom though, but so long you don't tell me what happens before it happens in movies..." I said pointedly, smirking up at my daughter, "We can share the TV."

He cleared his throat and added, "I don't mind running any errands you need me to either. Just think of me as a glorified lackey."

I chuckled, "Yeah, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that. Aerith is the one that grew up with the maids and the gardeners and the au-what the hell and you know the shebang and jazz?" Lifting Penelo off my shoulders, I opened the door of my truck, tossing her in the way she liked it, earning me another laugh before I pointed at the seat belt and went on to surprise myself as I opened the door for Hayner before moving over to the driver's side of the car.

"I do think you driving her to school will come in handy, her hours sort of bump awkwardly with my working schedule."

"Well, it's the least I can do. I sometimes feel a little under-used. She's a pretty awesome kid." He grinned down at Penelo and gently pulled on a pigtail. "We're already friends, right kid?"

She nodded vividly in my direction, "He runs really fast and found really good hiding spots and when I'm being really good and I'm very, very tired? He sometimes gives me the answers to my math homework." I raised an eyebrow, smothering a smirk.

"All that, huh?" Starting the engine, I drove out of the driveway, happy to take my girl home.

"Dude..." Hayner groaned, and shot me a hesitant smile. "Totally outed to the parents, kid."

She smacked her hands over her mouth, "Oh! I wasn't supposed to tell that, was I?"

I laughed, "She really sucks at keeping secrets, so if you don't want to get ratted out by accident, just don't tell her." I couldn't help but notice how often Hayner seemed to smile at me. Seemed like a pretty easy going guy.

"Noted, thanks. So, you own a farm?"

Following the road somewhat automatically as I'd driven it so often, I nodded, "Yeah. Started working there right before the squirt was born and I'd just gotten married to Aerith. The owner was pretty old, didn't have any family and so when he died, I got the surprise of the farm being mine all of a sudden." I shrugged, glad for it now as it gave me a stable place to be, allowing me to stick around in Ireland and remain close in Penelo's proximity. "Hard work, but nice too. How'd you get in the kid business?"

"Well, to be honest, I wasn't sure what exactly an au pair was. And I really needed a job at the time. Things just sort of aligned this way." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Probably not the best way to start a job, but I've had some experience with kids in the states and I figured Irish kids couldn't be that different, right?" He glanced at me, eyebrows raised.

I grimaced, "Oh, no, they're horrible." Penelo smacked my shoulder. "Don't worry, sweetheart, you're only half horrible."

Hayner perked up and asked, "So yeah, you're from the states? Where?"

"California..." I sighed, "I so miss the sun..." I whined. "God-"

"forsaken rain!" Penelo finished.

Rolling my eyes with a smile, I looked at Hayner quickly, "How about yourself? Not home sick, right?"

He shook his head quickly. "Not even close. Ireland is amazing." His smile was huge as he glanced out the window. "I mean, look at all this green!" Waving his hand out the window, he shot me a sympathetic smirk. "Must be all the rain."

I chuckled, "Oh jeez, a rain lover." Had he not answered me on purpose? Now I wanted to know where he was from... "Oh, hey, Penelo, Princess Sparkle Bubblegum got her baby." Hayner glanced over her head at me, an eyebrow raised in question. "Err, that's a cow... She named it and I can't remember why I let her. She made me put it on the leather neck holster and everything, so now every time I got clients coming in to check out the merchandize, I have to man up and introduce my cow named Princess Sparkle Bubblegum."

I could tell he was trying not to laugh as his teeth were holding onto his bottom lip and his eyes were crinkling around the edges. "Um, that sounds like an awesome name. Really." He snickered.

"Oh sure, side with her, that'll make my life easier." I grinned, nodding at Penelo when she started pulling on my sweater sleeve rather hectically. "Yeah, don't do that, you know I don't like it, it makes me nervous, what, what?"

"Can I go see the baby?"

"Yes."

"Right away?"

"Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have told you." Sliding the truck to a halt before my house mainly made out of wood and large stone bricks, I laughed softly as Penelo shot out of the car, suddenly no longer finding the seat belt too complicated. Getting out of the car myself, I waited for Hayner to do the same, "The house isn't too big, but the land and stables are, sort of what counts on a farm."

"Wow. It's really awesome!" Ah, the American way of looking at things. Turning to look at me, he grinned. "I've never really been on a real farm before, so forgive my total ignorance of it all."

He's so cheerful... How's he do that? "S'okay. You're legal age right? Want a beer?" It's only after I suggested it that I realized Aerith would kill me for offering a drink to our child's babysitter, but, eh... "Come on in." I added, making my way across the gravel path, throwing my front door open and quickly stepping aside so the two great Dane hounds could rush out. "They're cool."

Hayner paused, thinking about something. "Oh yeah! I'm totally legal here." He chuckled. "Forgot about the whole younger age limit here in Europe. Pretty nice, but I'll wait a bit til Penelo goes to bed, if that's okay. Not sure about drinking while she's awake." I nodded, stepping inside while patting the dogs their heads as I went for the kitchen.

"I'm not sure what to do with you." I confessed, pulling the fridge door open to see what else I had for him. The house was pretty much one big large open space, bedrooms and bathroom aside, which found themselves on the upper floor, otherwise the living room, kitchen and dining area were all downstairs, no doors separating them.

"Well, I'm pretty low maintenance. If it makes you feel any better, I usually wouldn't work the weekends and I can stay out of your way if need be." I could tell he was feeling slightly awkward about it now as well.

Closing the fridge I turned to give him my attention, crossing my arms and leaning back against the kitchen counter while kicking off my shoes, knowing Penelo would be back sometime soon. I frowned at the hole in my sock, revealing the tip of my large toe. Anyway.

"You know what, it's all good, we'll just focus on the driving thing, and you can just hang around here and check out the farm." I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. I remembered when I'd gotten here as an exchange student, kinda weird being in a foreign country, surrounded by people you don't know. Back then I knew I wasn't in any kind of position to do much about it, except hope the people around me would make an effort. Which is what I found myself in now, I needed to show him I wasn't too bothered with his presence here. Be nice.

"Don't worry about the squirt; she knows her way around here. She'll be back after she's checked out the baby." I assured, "You can just relaxed a bit, or try to anyway, I promise the couch is as comfortable as it looks." I pointed at the thing planted in the middle of the room, several blankets thrown haphazardly across it, coffee table in front of it, Penelo having decorated my TV with hello kitty stickers to break the earth tone coloring I had going on in my house.

He glanced over at the couch and nodded, letting me know that he understood. "Um, actually, can you point me to where I'll be staying? I'll put my stuff away, and if you want, I can give you a hand with dinner?"

I grinned, "Upstairs, second door on your left. As for dinner? It's pizza night, if I break the tradition of getting a pizza delivered, Penelo will throw a hissy fit."

He gave me another one of his frequent smiles. "Sounds good. I'll be back in a minute. Thanks." Turning, he made his way up to his room. Tilting my head up, I scratched my neck absently, raising an eyebrow as I caught myself checking out his behind. All right then, that might be a tad nicer than Aerith wants me to be. Clearing my throat, I quickly went to find the phone for the pizza.

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><p>Hope you are liking it, and look for chapter two, next week:D<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you Jasmine for reminding me that today was indeed saturday, lol. Here is chapter 2. Hope you enjoy and thanks again for all the reviews. **

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><p><strong>Hayner - A couple of days later<strong>

"Okay, I get the whole driving on the left side cause England is like that, but why in the hell is England like that if no other European country drives that way?" I buckled myself into Seifer's truck, trying to calm my nerves about getting a driving lesson from him. It hadn't been so bad when I tried it by myself last week, but now that I was having an actual adult in here with me, I felt like I was taking my driving test again.

He lifted a finger, mouth open to respond, but then dropped the finger and shut his mouth, giving me a shrug instead as he tossed the keys into my lap, sitting back, crossing his arms behind his head and comfortably settling himself in the passenger seat.

"It's not rocket science; I don't know why the Irish are so hell bent on giving us Americans lessons. But I know I'll get my head chewed off if I don't do this, so, let's do this." Closing his eyes, he crossed one leg over the other after having shifted the seat back, waving his hand flippantly before him. "Go on, have fun."

"Um, are you going to give me a destination?" That came out a little testy, but I was kinda hoping to have a bit more interaction, maybe some actual talking? Shaking my head at myself internally, I reminded myself that this was an employee slash employer type thing, despite my attraction to the guy.

He popped one eye open, "Well, Penelo won't be outta school for a long while still. I don't actually have anything going on today. Err, is there anywhere you want to go?" He reached out then, patting my hand that was settled on the gear. "Unlike the wheel, these aren't mirrored. So instead of pulling the stick towards you to go into one, push it outwards." He grinned, sitting up as he allowed me a bit more of his attention. "But I'm sure you get it, the numbers are written on the gear themselves." Another shrug, and he let his hand slip from mine then, putting it on his knee instead. Shit. I gulped and fought the blush I could feel trying to break free. Get a fucking grip Hayner, act like a man and not some stupid swooning girl, please?

"Stupid gears," I muttered as I tried to orient my mind to what he'd been saying. "I'll just drive until I get lost then. That's the quickest way to learn, I guess." Slowly easing the truck into gear, I took a deep breath and focused on the driveway, and not on where Seifer's hand had rested on mine. I could do this. I could be a normal au pair, driving normal, and most definitely not having any sort of inappropriate attraction to my bosses.

"So, now that the kid isn't around, wanna tell me a bit about yourself? I couldn't help notice you avoiding telling me where you're from when I asked." He shrugged, "If you don't want to then that's fine too, just trying to make conversation, or something."

I spared him a glance out of the corner of my eye. "It wasn't deliberate or anything. I'm from Miami, decided I wanted to go abroad before I got too old. Ran out of money, and took my chances with that career agency." I shrugged. "Nothing special. I'm hoping to get some international experience to put on my resume if I decide to go back to the States and if not, I'm hoping to find some place here that appeals to me." Really, Europe was filled with tons of different places and things I'd never really been exposed to before. I already felt more at home here in Ireland than I did in Miami. Maybe it was all the green and the fresh air.

"What brought you to here?" I asked, then winced as I tried shifting to third, my worst gear, and missed. The truck groaned and the gears ground and I tried to find third, while keeping my eyes on the road. "Shit."

"Hey!" A growl. Placing his hand over mine, he gripped my fingers. "Foot," he instructed, leading me to automatically press the clutch to allow a switch of gear while he helped guide me into third. "Easy with the old girl, wanna treat her like a lady. She's a lot more fragile than she looks." Another pat on my hand before he released it again.

"Don't be so nervous, I swear I don't bite, and you're doing fine, I'm sure you don't second guess your actions when you're alone in the car without someone checking your every move. Just pretend I'm not here or something, or at least, know that I know you can do this." I saw him nod with a smile from the corner of my eye.

"As for me getting here? Exchange student, my parents wanted me out, and figured a school across the ocean was the right amount of distance." He shrugged, "They're cool, I was just difficult when I was a teenager, so I don't blame them for getting sick with me." A sigh. "Then I knocked up Aerith, and her parents were the epitome of religious, so they made sure I couldn't run and leave her hanging. Abortion wasn't an option either, completely against their views, so that's how we got hitched, and how I stayed."

Wow. I kept my eyebrows from rising in surprise as he related his life story to me. And I suppose it made sense now why the divorce was so easy. They probably hadn't been in love in the first place, just forced into it. "Do you miss the States?" Shifting again, I sighed in relief when I didn't hear the grinding noise again.

"Not as much as I thought I was gonna," he confessed. "I like my farm and job, love my daughter with all I am, and she's really all I need, so as long as I'm close to her? Don't matter where I am in the world." A soft laugh. "Hey, how old are you anyways? Aerith pretty much only told me your name. So now I know you're a guy babysitter, that you're from Miami, and want to see the world before you go old. Don't look that old to me, so?"

"I'm 20." And again, I tried not to analyze if that was going to be a good answer or a bad one. I really needed to stop thinking in terms of, 'If I answer this way, will he like me more?' Smirking, I added, "Old enough to drink here, at least."

"I was the same age when I came here, had just turned 21 by the time Penelo came to be." He exhaled heavily, "Aerith keeps saying I'm not old, but having a kid and turning your life around to make it so the squirt can live a stable life happily? Sure makes me feel old." He chuckled then, "Made any friends here yet? I know that can be hard. If you want I can introduce you to Cloud, he's 22, knows where to go out in this small town - he'll be able to show you around and stuff."

"I'm just focusing on getting to know the town right now, and hopefully not getting lost." Which was proving to be almost impossible as this town really was small enough I could easily remember where I'd come from. "But thanks." I decided that sending a smile his way was showing gratitude with no ulterior motives. "What do you do around here for fun? When you don't have Penelo, I mean?"

"I'm kind of a loner, like to just relax and be by myself when I don't have work or got Penelo to entertain." Then he quickly added, "Not that I mind helping you out with the driving thing, don't want you to think I'm not okay being here. You're a good guy."

I heard him sigh again. "Half of this town sort of just avoids me cause I'm different from them. Not just cause I'm a Yankee, but also cause I divorced Aerith, daughter of the man who owns the biggest electrical company in a sixty mile radius. Her dad was pretty respected around here, big reputation and all. When my sexual orientation became a public knowledge, they all sympathized with Aerith, sort of giving me the mean eye I guess. Luckily my ex wife is a splendid little lady who's got a steady head on her shoulders and doesn't listen to what other people say, won't let them influence her beliefs and all."

He chuckled, "She was never much of a church go-er anyways. The other half of the town is polite, but so far, the divorce still sort of makes them uncomfortable to be seen with me." And then he shrugged, "Cloud tries to get me out of my comfort zone. It's just that his zone is so alien compared to my zone? I decline as politely as I can at all times."

I was pretty surprised and impressed by how much he seemed to be opening up to me, and he didn't even know me that well. Hopefully that meant he felt comfortable around me, probably because I was a fellow American. I tried not to feel smug about that, again thinking along the lines of, 'this will somehow make him like me.'

"Seems pretty lonely then." I smiled sympathetically. "I wasn't sure how the Irish viewed being gay, but it doesn't seem so bad around here." He had to understand that I wasn't just talking about him being gay. I didn't want to come right out and say it, and I was just enough of a scaredy cat to just imply about my orientation.

"They're-" He cut himself off, "Why would you-" And again before he laughed, "Jeez, Penelo isn't completely wrong claiming my mind is like that of Princess Sparkle Bubblegum sometimes. Okay, well, now that I connected the dots, I guess Cloud's a great match for a friend then. I wouldn't say we're friends, since I am more that with Zack and Cloud's his little brother, but he's gay and makes sure I don't go anywhere near the closet again. He's got a boyfriend though, but if you ever feel like a guy's night out..." he said meaningfully, "I'm sure he'll know where to take you."

I blushed, but dammit, I couldn't help it. My knuckles tightened on the steering wheel and I felt extremely self conscious. It wasn't like I was touchy or anything, but I really didn't like it when people knew I was gay and tried to either 'help' me out by setting me up, or assume that I was on the prowl for someone. I didn't really say anything. It wasn't his fault that it was a sore spot for me.

"So, do the same rules apply here as they do in the States? You can turn, er, left on a red like you can on a right red light?" I almost got tongue tied as I asked that question, but I just hoped it was a distraction from the topic at hand. Talking about stuff like this just made me uncomfortable and flashed to my disastrous 'coming out of the closet'.

"Yeah, just follow the road; everything is sort of reverse here." Clearing his throat, he shifted some in his seat. "So, err, I'm sort of out of questions and don't know what else to talk about."

I chuckled at that, feeling exactly the same way. Making new friends and acquaintances wasn't really my strong suit. "Me neither, I guess. Um, I, uh, did Penelo's laundry. Did you need me to do yours?" Resisting the urge to blush and smack my hand over my run away mouth, I pretended that this was something normal that all au pairs offered. It's not like he would know, right?

He snorted, "Yeah, no thanks, that's fine. I didn't even let Aerith touch my laundry when we were hitched. But I'm getting the sense that I need to give you stuff to do. Can't just expect you to figure it all out for yourself."

He paused for a moment, "Okay, honestly? It would be nice to have you around to drive the girl to school in the morning and pick her up; unless it's like today where I don't actually need to do anything and my workers can handle things on their own. But I seriously don't know what else to give you since I just drag Penelo along with me after she gets out of school, and she loves it."

Another pause and a thoughtful hum, "You're welcome to stay at the farm while Penelo is here, I mean, I figure you might not know what to do to entertain yourself if you're off for an entire week, taxi services aside, and you can only watch so much television to avoid boredom, so... If you're up to it, you can give me a hand on the farm, you look sturdy and all you really need is to not be afraid of animals and you'll be good to go." He gave my shoulder a quick pat then, sympathetically, "But if you just wanna stay at Aerith's and do whatever with your free time in between driving the squirt to school? I won't stop you, it's up to you."

"No, I don't mind staying here." And not just because I wanted to torture myself by staring at him when he wasn't looking. "Really, I would love to give you a hand. I'm sure after a while I'll figure stuff out." Being on the farm would break up the time at the mansion at least. There was only so much staring I could do at all that luxury before going insane.

"All right then, when we get back, I'll show you around the farm. We got a blackboard in the stables with a list of things that need to be done, I update it regularly and just let the workers pick whatever it is they wanna do, so you can do the same. Course I'll hang around and help you out the first couple of days."

I felt excited now, and quickly found the correct road to take us back to the farm, silently congratulating myself on not grinding the gears again. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer - nearly a month later<strong>

Parking the car in front of Aerith's house, I quickly unbuckled the belt and made my way outta the car, letting Hayner help Penelo with her bag and bringing her inside while I already marched my way up the stairs, leaving the front door open as I quickly trotted over to the kitchen, knowing she had to be there most likely. Closing that door behind me unlike the front, I smirked as Aerith was giggling, batting Zack's hand away with a wooden spoon from the food she was cooking while he was trying to distract her with kisses.

"Get your hands off my wife." I greeted, leading the couple to look my way, smiles on their faces.

"Well hello to you too, Seifer. How's it going?" Zack clapped my back sympathetically.

"Good, good. I need a moment with Aerith, that cool?" I asked. Zack nodded with a smile, winking over at Aerith who was humming as she twirled the spoon into the sauce she was creating.

"I'll just go greet the kid." And then he was kind enough to give me the moment I needed. Waiting for him to close the door after him, the deep frown I'd been sporting all week surfaced again as I rushed over to Aerith, prying the spoon out of her hands and lowering the fire underneath the pan as I grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards me. This earned me a raised eyebrow, but I ignored it for the moment.

"Send him back. Fire him. Send him back to America."

She frowned at me. "No way in hell am I sending him back. He's the best au pair I've ever seen and Penelo absolutely adores him." Giving me a once over, she glared and asked suspiciously, "What on earth has gotten into you? I thought you liked him!"

"Yes!" I growled out, "I like him very much! He's incredible with Penelo, works real hard on the farm, his sense of humor matches my own and unlike many people we know, he understands the rule of personal space." I crossed my arms, stomping my mud covered boot on the ground, this earning me a smack against the ear.

Wincing, I grabbed said ear, "Sorry. Just, it's wrong, Aerith. You need to send him back before I do anything stupid to ruin things! You know how good I am at that!" I reminded, "I'm the king of destruction, that's what your dad called me. I come in and manage to screw over whatever good is going on."

Still glaring at me, Aerith crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. "I'm still waiting for you to give me one reason why you think I should send that wonderful young man away from here. Seriously, Seifer, you are being ridiculous right now, and I am thinking I might need to slap you out of it."

I took a large step away from her to avoid a slap. "He's a boy!" I shouted in frustration. "He's ten years younger than I am!" I pointed out. "It's wrong!" This had been eating at me for a while now. I should have never allowed myself that one peek at his behind, it had all gone downhill from that moment onwards, and you'd think I'd know better, but I guess Aerith's dad wasn't wrong after all. I seriously was the king of destruction.

"Don't test the teenage hormones, Aerith, I beg you. You need to send him away before I do something about it, because let's face it, I didn't exactly get a chance to fool around when I was in the age to do that as I was too busy marrying you and massaging your feet and getting you freaking ice cream in the middle of the night while you were preggers."

I could tell by her annoyed sniff that she was letting the comment about the ice cream slide, but when she turned her fierce gaze on me, I wondered if I was lucky for that.

"Are you telling me, you are crushing on my au pair?" The glint in her eye and the smirk that twitched on the corner of her face was warning enough that she was well aware of my feelings about Hayner.

I laughed a short laugh, "No, Aerith, I'm not telling you I got a crush on your au-babysitter, I'm telling you that I want to enact the cliché pornos, where the employer seduces the babysitter's pants off and then pounds him into oblivion!"

"Okay, ew, for one. And two, you are telling me that you can only think about sexing up the poor boy?" Her looks were too understanding after that question. "Weren't you the one who was naming all of his qualities two seconds ago?" She squinted and held up her fingers with her thumb and forefinger slightly apart. "You don't have even a tiny crush on him?"

"Well," I wrinkled my nose, "It's not like I didn't imagine some kind of sweet pillow talk after the pounding into oblivion part, but it's only while I said that part out loud that I remembered I was talking to my ex wife, so I stopped for the sake of awkwardness." I shook my head, "That isn't the point though, the point is, you can't let me do this. Stop me, Aerith. I'm asking you as a friend, as your ex-husband, your daughter's father! Please remove him from our lives so I don't do anything stupid..."

"No. I'm sorry you're going through some crazy man crush thingy, but no. Hayner stays." And she said it with such finality that I didn't dare snap back for fear of her slapping me. Her gaze softened. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I can't dictate what Hayner does during his hours off. He is free to do whatever he wants and as long as you don't have a problem treating him as an au pair when he stays with you, then I don't see a problem."

"Aerith!" I shrieked, "Last time you gave me a green light, Penelo was the result and our marriage was the freaking consequence!" Growling in anger, I turned on my heel sharply, "You are as weak as I am! When I declared we were two making that baby, I was right! I'm not the only horn dog in this country like your father claimed!" And then I slammed the door, ignoring Zack as I marched my way out of the house, knowing I'd be able to apologize for my quick departure to Penelo later tonight on the phone.

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner - a week or so later<strong>

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I listened to Penelo sing one of the Irish folk songs from around here to me. We were on our way back over to Seifer's for the weekend and all of next week and Aerith had told me that I could just drive Penelo over there for convenience. "That was great Penelo! Now do the one about the dog and farmer." Giggling at me, she jumped right in, the wind from the open windows blowing her bangs out of her face.

It seemed like things were starting to really feel great lately. I was almost suspicious, but helping out with the farm and keeping Penelo occupied was quickly becoming my favorite part of the job. And, if I was honest with myself, I didn't mind all the extra time I got to spend with Seifer while I was over here. He'd spoken to Aerith and because of the help I was doing, they'd added about a 100 more Euros a month to my pay, which was an added bonus.

"Look! I can see your dad's house! How's the baby calf doing these days? Did you pick a name?"

"Senorita de la Flower!" She said proudly, "I think she looks Spanish; also, she eats a lot of flowers."

"I'm not sure if I've ever heard of a Spanish looking cow, but it's a pretty name." I killed the engine and helped her get her bag of clothes out of the backseat. I quickly scanned the front yard, and furrowed my brow when I didn't see Seifer right away. He was usually waiting for us as soon as he knew we were almost here. "Wonder where your dad is..."

"Oh, he said on the phone last night that he would be busy repairing the old tractor." She slammed her door shut, "He also said that I had to just go find him and you could go directly to the black board if you wanted, that he'd take care of me while repairing."

I was taken aback. "Oh. He told you to tell me all of that?" That seemed...a little unnecessary. Why couldn't he tell me that himself? She shrugged her shoulders, clearly not knowing what to give me for an answer to that.

"Have fun Hayner, see you later, okay?"

Smiling as big as I could so as not to worry her, I nodded. "Sure thing, kiddo. Hope it's pizza for dinner tonight!"

That had her turn around again, halting as she'd been walking away, "Oh, daddy is taking me out tonight, just the two of us. He wanted me to tell you that too." She gave me a smile, "But we'll be back for bedtime, so you can come say goodnight!" And then she was off again.

And now I felt like a complete loser. Not that I had anything against Seifer taking his daughter out to a dinner with just the two of them, but why did it feel like he was avoiding me all of a sudden? The last time I was here, everything seemed to be fine. We'd talked and joked while we worked, and Seifer had even sat down and watched TV with me, handing me a beer as well. Sure, he'd seemed a bit in a hurry when he'd dropped us off, running out without saying goodbye to Penelo, but that hadn't seemed like a big deal then. Trudging over to the barn, I chewed my bottom lip and tried to figure out exactly what I'd done to make him avoid me.

As I spent the next few hours doing chores from the board, I racked my brain, dying to figure out what the hell I'd done wrong. And as the weekend progressed, and the week came to an end, I resolved to let it go, as I was clearly beneath his notice now. Despite my best efforts, I hadn't exchanged five words all week with him, and even though I didn't understand why, I knew that there was a clear line drawn between us. I was his employee and that was all. I buried the hurt I felt as I finally came to grips with it, and instead, spent my time focusing on Penelo and my job.

Last day at the farm, and then back to Aerith's mansion. While the dynamic had changed here under Seifer's roof ever since he'd drawn that very clear line, I still enjoyed working out in the fields and with the animals. So far I hadn't really interacted with the other workers, most of them already having started with their chores by the time I came around to the black board, and since there was so much land, it was rare I shared the same spot with another worker as we were all sort of crisscross across the farm, doing what needed to be done.

It's why I was surprised to see someone staring at the black board when I walked into the stable, not used to having to wait in line. Noticing my presence, the guy turned around, blond spiky hair bouncing as he did so, an easy smile shaping on his mouth as he greeted me with a wave.

"Hi! I'm Cloud Strife. We haven't met, but the other workers told me you'd joined their forces not too long ago. You're Penelo's au-pair, right?" He took my hand once in reach, shaking it. "I only come here maybe four, five times a year to make a bit of extra money." He then explained his presence here.

I smiled automatically and introduced myself. "Yeah, I'm Hayner Allen. It's nice to meet you." I squinted at his hair. "You're Zack's brother, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah I am. So you are American." He'd noticed the lack of Irish accent then. "Well, a belated welcome to this country then. It's a lot of fun when you know where to go. Twisted stories all around, but I guess you already knew that, I mean," He chuckled, grabbing a hayfork for god knows only why, "I'm Cloud, Zack's little brother who's good friend's with your employer Seifer, who used to be married to Aerith, your other employer, who's now dating Zack, my brother. And I'm actually dating Seifer's ex right now, Leon."

He frowned, "Seifer's really unlucky in the romance department." And then he shook himself out of it. "Anyway, unless you got anything going on and made a bunch of friends already, I'd be glad to take you out into town, show you the hot spots and assure you it's not as boring as it may look at first glance."

I couldn't keep the chuckle from getting past my lips. "You Irish sure are friendly." Trying to keep the frown at still being ignored off my face, I answered. "Nah, I haven't really made any friends yet. What the heck." I shrugged. "I guess I'll let you show me around." It couldn't hurt anyways.

"That's the spirit!" He smiled brightly, "Well, none of the chores really require two people at once, so how about we do our job and meet up in the parking lot at five? I'm meeting Leon and the guys at Lachlan. It's a bar. A good group is playing music there tonight. Sound good?"

I suppose his enthusiasm was catching because the next smile I gave didn't seem forced at all. "That sounds great. I'll see you then, and, um, thanks and all."

Positioning the hayfork over his shoulder, he hitched up his pants, gave me another smile and then started making his way out of the stables. "It's no problem! The more the merrier!"

**Later that day, in the bar**

I'd met a lot of people that were shameless, flamboyant, or simply didn't care, but when it came to Cloud? His lack of interest in other peoples' opinions wasn't just him not caring, he literally didn't give a flying fuck.

"Rude and Reno - the two guys dancing crazy on the dance floor? - are my friends from high school." Cloud explained, playing with Leon's fingers, settled comfortably in his boyfriend's side, not uncomfortable at all flaunting the fact that he was gay in this small town, local bar.

"Rinoa and Yuffie, dancing with my boys, work with Leon on Zack's farm." He continued, "And Vaan here just likes to tag along." He winked at the blond that was about my age, sharing a small couch with me, nursing a beer as he smiled easily my way, nodding in confirmation at Cloud's intro.

I took a sip of my own beer and nodded along to his introductions, catching Vaan's eye as he smiled in my direction. Huh, unless I was mistaken, I'm pretty sure he checked me out. Well, I couldn't let that go, so I casually let my eyes run over him, definitely appreciating what I saw. He didn't have the physique of Seifer, but then again, he was younger than the guy. And besides, that ship hadn't even come to port let alone sailed away, so I shouldn't be comparing the two.

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Hayner." I tipped my beer to Leon, who had gone ahead and bought the first round.

"Slante!" Cloud returned, gulping down a few greedy slurps, chuckling as Leon stopped him from downing the thing completely.

"Cloud, you're not a teen anymore, slow the hell down or you'll get plastered and miss the entire night." Scowling in good humor at the blonde, Leon released Cloud's arm apparently trusting him to drink like an adult. I chuckled, already feeling at ease with everyone. The band was pretty good and it was easy to let the tension from the week fade to the background.

"So, are you all from around here?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at Vaan and the other two.

"Yeah, we-" Leon placed a palm over Cloud's mouth, giving him a meaningful look, which was returned with a pair of questioning puppy dog eyes, but not five seconds later did understanding dawn in them as Cloud nodded, shutting his yap and waving his hand flippantly in Vaan's direction.

One eye bigger than the other as Vaan stared at Cloud as if he was looking at a crazy person, he shook that off and then turned to look at me, letting out a short chuckle.

"Ehm, yeah. Well, Cloud, Reno and Rude are. Leon, Yuffie and Rinoa come from towns spread around Ennis, while I'm actually from Dublin." He gave me a sheepish look, shrugging, "City boy."

"Ah, I know how that goes. I'm from Maimi, FL. I've never been this close to cows and livestock in my entire life." I chuckled and leaned back into the corner of the sofa so I could see Vaan a little easier as well as Cloud and Leon. "What brings you guys to this small town then?" I nodded to my couchmate and Leon. Vaan leaned back too, his feet bumping into mine, but he didn't retrieve them, leaving them there and not even pretending he had done it by accident.

"I actually work at Aerith's dad's electric company. Transferred from his Dublin office about two years back." He said.

"And Leon came here to find me." Cloud said happily, tossing back half of Leon's beer now, clearly on his way to going from tipsy to drunk. He seemed happy with it though. Leon rolled his eyes, but kept his arm wrapped around Cloud's shoulders, clearly hoping that he could keep him in line with his physical presence.

He grumbled out, "I suppose I can't deny it." I smirked. Totally whipped. My attention was drawn back to Vaan as he bounced his leg and bumped into my foot. Hmm, I smirked at him. He wanted to play that kind of game? Feeling brave, I bumped him back.

"So, how are you liking the small town then, city boy?"

And then he trapped my right leg between his, smirking my way, "It's all right."

"Hey!" Cloud protested.

Vaan laughed, "Okay, it's fantastic!" He said with more enthusiasm this time. "Oh, look, our glasses are empty." I stared at my still half full glass, raising an eyebrow his way in question. Grabbing my beer, he quickly finished it for me. "It's Cloud's turn to by the next round. Leon, you may wanna help him, don't think he can walk straight, let alone carry full pints."

Leon smirked and quickly stood up, dragging his blond boyfriend up with him. "Sure thing, C'mon Cloud. I think we're being subtly told to leave." With that, he marched them over to the bar, stopping along the way to chat with a few other patrons. Despite the bravery I'd shown so far, I wasn't really sure what to expect now that they'd all basically maneuvered me into being left alone with Vaan. I glanced his way with an eyebrow still raised.

Shuffling closer, he reached up to place his palm against my neck, not leaving me any time to react as he leaned in, pressing his mouth against mine for a moment. It wasn't long, nor did it include any tongue, just a simple kiss. When he pulled away, he released me completely, sitting back comfortable as he smiled.

"Not looking for a one night stand," He started, "But I am looking for a date. I'd get to know you better here, but the music is loud and I really don't like shouting out my life story to be able to be heard, so..." He shrugged rather simply, "I'm thinking the kiss was nice, wanna see where we can take this?"

Wow. Again, I was struck by the straightforwardness of the people around here. It must be a small town type of thing. It took me a minute to find my voice as I'd been surprised to hell and back by the kiss he'd given me. If I took him up on his offer of a date to get to know each other, I'd really have to let go of the still major crush I had on Seifer. I felt deflated for a moment. The guy had made it perfectly clear that I wasn't really on his radar. So be it.

"Uh, sure. But don't expect a whole lot outta me at first." I warned. "Everyone here seems pretty open, but I'm not a huge sharer."

"Hey, don't worry about it." He said, "We can just go out and catch a movie or something for a first date. Normal and not a whole lot of talking necessary." It was easy to smile at him and I felt comfortable enough to nod and bump my shoulder against his. While I was definitely still attracted to Seifer, Vaan seemed like a nice guy, someone easy to talk to and hang out with while I was being ignored by Penelo's father.

"So, when is this first date gonna be?" I smirked. "Gotta make sure my schedule's clear and all."

"How about tomorrow? Actually, me and the guys are going to see Sherlock Holmes 2, so it wouldn't be a real date what with all of them being there, but I figure it's a start. We can share popcorn."

* * *

><p>AN: Let's all pretend that Reyaa's vacation will never end and thus we will never run out of stories...yes...let's pretend that the real world doesn't suck ass, lol.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, giant chapter this time around. Mainly because, contrary to the title, I *didn't* want to drag this out too long, lol. Shout out to poor Reyaa who is back to working full time (and then some) and I miss her terribly. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer - The following day<strong>

Making my way into Aerith's garden, I saw her sitting on the ground, her back settled against one of the cherry blossoms, a book in her hands. I couldn't help but smile as I took her in, sitting myself down beside her.

"Hey beautiful." I murmured, kissing her cheek. Although I couldn't get it up for her, that didn't mean I had had no feelings whatsoever for her at some point throughout our short marriage. "Penelo and Hayner ready?" I asked.

She gave me a smile and nodded. "Yes. But it's just Penelo today. I did tell you that Hayner has the weekends off and it seems he's out and about this weekend."

Eyebrows rising in surprise, I leaned back, "Oh?" I wanted to ask where he was, but it was none of my business.

"It seems he ran into Cloud on the farm and of course Cloud invited him into town to 'hang out'. And since it's almost impossible for anyone to say no to that boy, I guess Hayner had a good enough time, he's out with him and some friends again tonight."

I cringed. Out with Cloud? He was gonna have a boyfriend by the end of, well... tonight. "That's great!" I faked as best I could, getting up on my feet. "Well, where's Penelo? We gotta get going."

Aerith gave me a knowing look. "You know where her room is. And I'm not going to point out that your behavior of late hardly makes it easy for Hayner to hang out with you." She sniffed disdainfully in my direction as she settled back to reading. "But far be it from me to have an opinion on the matter."

I rolled my eyes, "Your body sustains on having opinions for everything alone." Leaving her to her book, I suppressed the frustration building inside of me best I could. It was annoying to be frustrated when that frustration was pointed at none other than myself. I'd made a decision, and I was going to stick to it. Crushing on Hayner was bad news, I knew that and I'd made the right choice distancing myself from him, even if Aerith had given me somewhat of a green light where it concerned him. It could only create trouble. Crushing on your daughter's babysitter just screamed wrong. Nodding in confirmation and my re-found stable mind on the subject that was Hayner, I felt a lot lighter by the time Penelo and I got to the farm, ready to tackle another week of work.

* * *

><p><strong>A couple of days later<strong>

Pushing hard on the broom, I swept the last bit of hay out of the stables, straightening back up and smiling at the tidy-ness of the place.

"Hi dad." Frowning, I looked over at Penelo who was now petting her pony, Cupcake. "What are we eating tonight?"

Putting the broom away, I walked over to pet the pony as well. "Where's Hayner? Normally you spend Wednesdays with him."

She blinked up at me, "Didn't you see his note on the fridge?" When I shook my head, she patted my belly, "Silly dad. Well, he's going out with Vaan tonight. You said you were okay with him leaving me in your care for tonight."

My frown deepened. "No I didn't."

"Yes, you did." Penelo returned.

I shook my head, picking her up and placing her on my shoulders when she gestured for me to do so. "I didn't. I would remember agreeing to something like that."

She giggled as I started walking quickly out of the stables. "He warned you about it on Monday, you said you were okay with it, and then said he'd leave a note on the fridge to make sure you'd remember. Clearly that didn't work." Okay, so my forgetful mind had once again gotten the better of me. But...

"Vaan, you said?" I edged. Please let it be a uni-sex name...

Penelo hummed, "Yes. He and Hayner are dating, but they're not boyfriends. Hayner was very specific about that when I said Vaan was his boyfriend."

Dammit. Picking up the pace to get back to the house faster, this only amusing Penelo as my was stride was making her bounce on my shoulders, my fun was dying more and more the closer I got to the house. Setting her back down on the floor, I opened the door and stepped into my living room.

"Is he gone already?" I asked.

"Did you want to talk to him?"

I frowned at Penelo, "No..."

"Oh, just seemed like you needed to since you're acting very pushy."

"Stop letting your mother put words in your mouth." I scolded. Giggling, she shrugged and then ran up the stairs to go play in her room. My eyes were still fixed on the staircase as at that same moment Hayner was walking down, looking... Well shit. Clearly distance wasn't going to kill the attraction I felt for him. The slacks and button down shirt he was wearing were really, really doing his tight and lean physique justice.

"Woah, eh, fancy..." Seriously? Why was I given the ability of speech? But then it got worse as I let my eyes scan over him slowly, appreciatively, without brain permission whatsoever. Ah fuck, blind me.

His cheeks reddened slightly, but I noticed a decidedly stubborn set to his jaw. "Yeah. I left you a note reminding you that I was going out with some friends tonight." He paused as he got to the bottom and ran his fingers through his hair. Chocolate colored eyes were wary as he added, "That's still okay, right?"

No, no, it really wasn't okay... "Have fun!" Must. Choke. Self. "Penelo!" I growled, managing not to smack my head against the wall on purpose as I ran up the stairs, hoping my daughter would oblige me and distract me with some Lego building, Barbie dress up, doll tea party or puppy puzzling.

About to walk into my daughter's bedroom, instead of the warm welcome I needed, I got a high pitch shriek, bordering on the ultra sonic that only bats and dogs could understand at this point before her door slammed in my face.

"Boys aren't allowed, Dad!" She screamed.

"Oh, fine!" I shouted back, angry at the situation really, not at her. I heard her stick her tongue out and make noise with it, telling me off that way, and just because the adult in me had left the building for the evening, I returned it, puckering out my lips so I could mimic the farting sound before stomping my way back down the stairs again. When I noticed Hayner staring at me rather weirdly, I stopped in my tracks.

"What?" I barked.

He raised his arms in defense. "Dude. Nothing. Just, are you all right?" He cleared his throat and gulped. "I haven't seen you around for awhile and I was wondering if there was anything I could do to, you know, help you out or something." I could tell he was sincere, but I noticed that his eyes strayed to the clock on the far wall, checking the time. My heart twisted as I realized he wanted to get out of here and meet his date already. Shit. Reaching up, I scratched my hair, wincing down at the ground.

"No, ehm... Sorry, just, go have fun and I'll see you later okay?" I muttered, avoiding looking at him again before moving to the kitchen. Beer. Beer was going to be my best friend tonight.

I heard him follow me into the kitchen. "Are you sure? It's okay if I'm late or something. Really, they won't mind." Opening the bottle, I quickly gulped a few swallows down before turning to look at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't you worry your pretty little heaa-" WHAT THE FUCK? "Just go!" Groaning, I dropped my forehead against the side of the fridge harshly. "I'm a disaster..." And then I started banging it a couple of times before moving and gulping down some more beer. "You're awesome." How had I gotten drunk already? That's scientifically impossible! "Holy fuck, just leave before I make this even worse!" I shrieked, eyes wide as I couldn't believe the lack of control I had over my mouth and mind right now.

His face was shocked and he took a tentative step forward, his hand outstretched. "Seifer, really what's going on? Did I do something wrong? Dude, you're totally freaking me out here."

The urge to grab the hand and pull him flush up against me was monstrous... "I just really, really need to pee." I declared, managing to hold back on the want, quickly circling him as I ran off, escaping to the bathroom.

A shocked, "What the hell?" Followed me and then a few moments later I heard the front door open and close.

Sighing in relief, I stepped out of the bathroom, smacking the side of my head as punishment for my stupidity as I walked over to the front door, pursing my lips as I couldn't stop myself from looking out the little window to see Hayner leave. What I hadn't expected was to see this Vaan character too. I'd figured Hayner would have gone to meet him somewhere in town, but...

"Oh that is so freaking unfair!" I growled, eyes narrowing as I watched Vaan lean in to kiss Hayner. "Pain, ouch, rock, six feet under, evil, evil, evil, evil..." I let out in a muttered string, practically incoherent, as I watched Hayner grasp the guy's hips. Breathing in and out deeply, I'm not quite sure why I kept watching and didn't just walk away as this was close to what torture must feel like. Face twisted in a grimace, I was still staring as they drove away.

"I hate myself." A declaration at myself as no one else was here to witness it before I made my way to the stairs, going to Penelo's room and knocking softly, waiting for her to open her door. When she did, she frowned up at me and I pouted down at her.

"Your daddy needs a hug." I felt better already when Penelo didn't bat an eye at this, quickly offering me her arms so I could pick her up and get the hug I wanted.

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner<strong>

While Vaan was busy walking to his side of the car after opening my door, I couldn't help but glance back at the house, worried about Seifer some more. He hadn't seemed all that steady to me, and I felt guilty for leaving him at home with Penelo if he wasn't feeling well. Not to mention that those few words we'd just spoken were the most I'd really heard from him for awhile.

And it didn't take a genius to spot how he'd checked me out when I was coming down the stairs. What the fuck was that about? I mean, he'd made it pretty clear that there was just nothing that could happen between us, and then he goes all slack jawed at me and made me annoyed at him for checking me out. Ugh. I sighed and plopped into my seat, closing the door behind me. Really, that guy just didn't make sense to me.

Vaan did the same, buckling up a he gave me a quick smile, starting the engine, "So how about we get some fries down at the chip shop just the two of us and then meet the guys at the bowling ally after?" I nodded, my thoughts still a bit preoccupied with Seifer and leaving him home alone with Penelo.

"Yeah, that sounds fine." Again, I glanced back at the house as we pulled out from the driveway. Could he possibly have needed me to stay and watch her?

I felt Vaan's hand above my knee, "You okay, mate?"

I sighed again, loudly. "It's just my boss, Seifer. He was acting really weird as I was leaving and I'm kinda worried about him. I mean, I get the evenings off from watching Penelo and it's not like he can say that I can't go out and do stuff, but he was really off tonight." My fingers tugged on my hair and I swiped it out of my face.

He shrugged, "Maybe he's just having a bad day. Probably nothing."

"Yeah, I'd have thought that as well, except he's spent the last few weeks kinda being weird around me." I snorted. "When he could stand to be around me apparently. I thought that he thought me an okay au pair when I first started. He'd even offered to introduce me to Cloud and everything himself." I glanced over at Vaan trying to explain just how weird Seifer was acting. "And then, all of a sudden, he goes completely cold. Like, zero talking to me, relaying messages through Penelo and notes. What's up with that?"

Vaan shrugged again, only this time it was accompanied by a frown on his forehead, "Don't know, Hayner. Maybe he's just been busy? I don't know anything about the farm deal, but I'm sure they must have busier seasons like any other job." He chuckled then, "Like Christmas at mine, we cut a whole lot more people off from the electric privilege as people sort of 'forget' to pay their bill and spend the money on presents instead."

I rubbed my hand over my face, nodding absently at his words. "And he downed that beer awfully fast when I left. I hope he's not planning to keep drinking while Penelo is home. Hells, why is he being so difficult?"

"Okay, I guess we're staying on that then." Vaan murmured, taking his eyes off the road for a second to spare me a worried glance. "You want me to drive you back and do the date another time? I mean, if you think your boss' state," He emphasized the word boss quite meaningfully, "is indeed that worrisome."

My arms crossed over my chest defensively as I thought about what might happen should I go back. "Ha, that would probably have the opposite effect. I could worry all day and Seifer wouldn't give a rat's ass about it. He's already made it ABUNDANTLY clear that I'm beneath his notice." I could almost feel myself pouting.

Vaan let out an amused, short laugh, "Hah, so that's what's going on." He said knowingly, putting a deep frown on my forehead as I had no idea what he was going on about. He grinned my way, "So you're saying you'd rather not skip the date because Seifer will ignore you anyways, rather than not wanting to skip the date cause you really want to spend time with me?"

Oh. Shit. Now I felt like a complete and utter dick. "Vaan...I'm-" I cut myself off. What was I supposed to say? I'd basically just spent the first ten minutes of my date with him ranting about another guy and being ignored by said guy. Glancing over at him, I tried to stutter out an apology, even though the damage was probably already done.

He patted my leg, still smiling, and it was a genuine one, "Don't worry about it, Hayner. We've not even shared more than ten pecks, haven't properly made out yet, and so far all our dates included the guys where we were hanging out as friends more than actual possible future boyfriends."

He shrugged, "Rather find out your heart's set on another now than somewhere in the future where I created some kind of attachment for you." I saw that he'd turned at some point while I'd been ranting, driving the car back to the farm. "But no more dates, okay? I'm glad we straightened this out, but I don't want to try anything with you while you're hung up on your boss." At least he knew what was going on in his head, unlike others.

"We can still be friends right? Cause you're a real great guy and I would hate for you to stop coming around just cause of this slight hiccup."

"Yeah." I tried to smile, knowing that if I could have gotten Seifer out of my head, I may have had something worthwhile with him. But I guess I was just hung up on someone I couldn't have. Returning a real smile to Vaan, I grabbed his hand and squeezed. "I am really sorry about this." I muttered sheepishly. "I suppose, I'll get over him at some point."

He squeezed back, "I'm sure it'll all work out. Believe me, I know what it's like to have a crush on someone you can't possibly have anything with." He confessed. "So I get it's complicated and sort of one track minded until you manage to sort things out in your head." He smirked then, "Don't expect me to wait for you though, I'm a catch and won't be single for long." Winking, he then slid the car to a halt. "No hard feelings, mate, promise."

I smirked at him. "I wouldn't expect you to. But who knows, anything can happen." He really was a nice guy, and I got the feeling he didn't expect anything to happen between me and Seifer. Hell, I didn't expect anything to happen. But I couldn't move on unless I truly got an explanation from the guy. This little stunt he pulled, avoiding me and what not, was just not gonna cut it. I needed black and white answers. "Thanks for helping me settle in and I'll see you around, yeah?" Leaning over, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

He smiled, "No problem. Just don't make anything harder on yourself than the situation already makes it, okay? Don't want you hurting over that guy. He isn't worth your time." My lips thinned in a small smile. And _that's_ what makes this suck royally. I totally thought he was.

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer<strong>

"Daddy! I'm going to go play outside with Snuggles and Cookie!" I heard Penelo thunder down the stairs as she announced this, leading me to look back over my shoulder and the couch to smile her way.

"Kay, just stay on your play ground so I can see you from the window-"

"Whenever you want." She finished for me, nodding her head and waving a flippant hand my way as she tore the front door open, Snuggles and Cookie on her heels, making me laugh at how small they made her look what with the size of them. Much like me though, she had them wrapped around her little finger.

"Hi Hayner!" She said brightly, squeezing past him, dogs on her heels as she flew outside, leaving Hayner standing in the open doorway. Shooting off the couch, I frowned his way.

"I-" Wasn't he supposed to be on his date? How much time had gone by? Looking down out my watch, I shook my wrist, then shook my head, and looked at the clock when I realized I still hadn't put new batteries in my watch. "You're home early." I declared, realizing he'd not gone longer than thirty minutes.

He shrugged and gave me a small smile. "I changed my mind about it. I think I'd rather just stay here this evening and hang out with you and Penelo. Did you guys have dinner yet?" Walking in, he plopped down on the easy chair next to the couch.

"Err..." Would it be really rude to ask him to change? Those clothes looked too nice on him. How had Vaan allowed him to walk out of his reach? "No, we didn't." Sitting back down, I frowned at the turned off television screen. "You-" I cut myself off, standing again, "I'll just go check on Penelo." Good plan, just shove the distance back there, it would cool my mind.

"Sounds good. I'll come with you." He said simply, standing up as well. "She did promise to show me the cool play set you had set up for her."

And I sat back down again. "Never mind." Penelo didn't need to see her father trying to kill a boner. Not that I had one yet, but the lack of sex I'd participated in since my last boyfriend and my attraction to Hayner? I was bound to suffer from one shortly. "We can just... hang." Shifting into several different sitting positions to try and find one I was comfortable with, I took a few quick glances his way. "So, eh... How've you been?" Awkward much?

Since standing up from the chair, Hayner must have taken a few steps forward as suddenly he was plopped down at the other end of the couch from me, his fingers pushing his hair out of his eyes. He shrugged.

"Pretty good. Got to hang out a bit with Cloud and some friends. Got to know the town." Eyeing me, he asked, "How have you been? I haven't really talked to you in awhile."

Gritting my teeth as that frustration with myself was bubbling up again, I ground out, "Fan-freaking-tastic." And I shot back off the couch again when he'd turned his body as to engage into proper conversation with me. "So what's for dinner?" I rolled my eyes at myself as I marched over to the kitchen. "You wouldn't know that. Let me re-phrase. Let's see what I'm cooking tonight!" Opening the fridge, I stuck my head in, hoping the cold would freeze my brain and give me my sense of normality back.

Again, he stood up and I heard him follow me into the kitchen, leaning against the counter a few feet away. "You need some help? I actually didn't eat while I was out."

I snorted, "Wonder how you could have, you were barely gone thirty minutes." Pulling out the box of eggs, I shoved them into his hands. "Omelet!" Wait... "Holy hell." I muttered, taking the box back from him as I realized I had to start the omelet and that wasn't going to work if he was holding the eggs.

I noticed him smile at me, as he let me have the carton. "I'll grab some veggies from the fridge to chop into the omelets. You liked peppers in yours, right?" Without really waiting for an answer, he slowly leaned past me to grab what he needed, and I could smell a faint whiff of cologne.

Jesus Mary Joseph... I plastered myself as far away from him as possible, gulping as the sudden close proximity was too much. "Yeah, hot-" What? "Peppers, I mean hot peppers." No I didn't, "No, not hot peppers, I'd need milk with that, just peppers." Licking my lips, I inhaled sharp and quick, "Can you, like, give me my personal space back?"

"Oh?" He looked at me, blinking slowly as he if he suddenly noticed how fucking close he was standing to me. "Oh sure. I'm just gonna grab the cheese and then I'll be outta your way. Two seconds." And with that he leaned even further into the fridge to pull the cheese out. "Got it!" Pulling back with a smile at me again and his arms full of produce, he turned to the kitchen counter to drop it all.

My lips parted as I noticed the small smirk playing on his lip. That shameless little brat! "You-" No! Control, Seifer, freaking control! I could play, I was very good at playing, and games are my forte. My daughter could back me up on this. Well, maybe not on flirting games but- What was it about this guy that made me forget where my brain was? Shaking myself, I opened a drawer, pulling out a large bowl and unhooking the mixer from the wall as to start beating the eggs.

"He a good kisser?" I asked, breathing in steadily as I tried to get back to regular me. The annoying one, the one that pissed Aerith off in the funniest ways. "I looked." I added.

"Meh." Hayner shrugged, and dug around the drawer to pull out a sharp knife. "He was okay, I guess. But we decided that we'd be better off as friends. Which is why I was home so early." He was chopping tomatoes like a pro while his voice answered casually. He knew exactly what was going on. He knew, had known when he'd walked back through the front door, and had started this game with a head start, not letting me in on it right away, if ever hadn't I noticed the smirk. Fine.

Halting in the beating of the eggs, I moved closer to him, using the reach tactic he'd just used, pretty much bumping into his side as I grabbed the salt, "Pretty sure he wasn't holding you right." I murmured close to his ear, stepping behind him, my breath hitting the nape of his neck as I then grabbed the pepper too. And then I moved back to my eggs.

He didn't even bother hiding his shiver as my breath had tickled the back of his neck. "Yeah." Hayner breathed out. "I'd probably need someone with more experience than him to really show me how a real kiss should go." Grabbing a pepper, he smiled softly and started cutting it.

My dick twitched. He did not just say that. "Probably more about the chemistry than age-" Fuck. "I mean, experience." Right? "Age. No, experience. Shit." Pushing the bowl and mixer away, I closed my eyes, grumbling under my breath as I reached up to rub my temples. I was too old for this.

Hayner chuckled softly, still content to slowly chop the peppers for my omelet even though I'd given up on beating the eggs. "I think that chemistry is the most important aspect of any relationship, regardless of experience." He gave me a pointed look, an eyebrow raised. "Or age."

Peeking at him from the corner of my eye, I allowed a small smile. "I agree on that." But he was still my daughter's babysitter... That'd be awkward. And why was I even considering this? "I'm sorry," I blurted, then, whatever pit of courage I'd held onto not minutes ago, gone again, "I gotta-" I shrugged, shaking my head. "I don't know, just-" Finish your sentences, dude! "I'm- Fuck!" Hitting my palm harshly onto the kitchen counter, my body turned towards him, I scanned him over, gulping, shaking my head, tearing my eyes away, wondering how I was going to move away from him, let alone figure out how I was gonna make my way through this situation. Aerith wasn't gonna fire him just cause of my feelings for him, and the distance I'd placed between him and me was clearly not something he was willing to put up with. Why couldn't everyone just leave me alone?

His eyes were suddenly locked with mine, and I was fascinated by how they seemed to be searching my face. Seemingly to make up his mind about something, he looked to be...pulling back? "So, hey. Are we still on for omelets, or did I just chop a ton of vegetables for homemade salsa or something?" He grinned, holding up a pepper. "It's just as good with chips, ya know." His smile looked so easy going.

Offering him the bowl with the beat eggs mutely, I kept staring at him as he started tossing the cut up vegetables in there. My attraction for him was gonna continue to grow now that I knew it was a mutual thing. It was clear he'd pulled away for my sake, or maybe he'd backed off like I did because he was bothered by our positions. In any case, things would get hotter and hotter but neither of us was going to do anything about it. At least, I knew I wouldn't, and while I was boiling and about ready to burst, I...

"Don't want things to be awkward." I murmured, leading him to look up at me in question. "I don't know what to do with you." I remember telling him that same thing first time I'd met him. The meaning wasn't the same anymore though. "Imma go check on Penelo, be back in a second." Breathing out steadily, I quickly walked away

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner - the following weekend<strong>

I waved goodbye with Penelo to Seifer, keeping my smile easy going with no perceived pressure behind it. After that dinner with Seifer on Wednesday, following my aborted date, I'd pushed him as far as I dared to. At least now I knew that he wasn't really that concerned about our age difference. It must be something else and I had a feeling that if I could bounce ideas off someone, I'd be that closer to figuring it all out.

"Come on, Penelo. Your mom wants you ready to have dinner with her and Zack in town tonight and you need to get changed."

"Okay! They said I got to pick the restaurant and I know just the one!" She bounced inside, forever a ball of tireless energy while I quickly dropped our duffel bags near the laundry room as I followed her.

As I helped her get dressed, I thought about who the best person would be to talk to about Seifer. Probably someone who knew him, and who hadn't just realized I was crushing on him. I snorted; I definitely didn't want to confide anymore in Vaan about this. I nodded along with Penelo bragging about how cool Zack was, and it reminded me that Cloud actually seemed to know Seifer pretty well.

I mean, he worked for him and all that so he's probably known him for years. And I bet he'd be at the pub tonight with Leon. It was Friday, and so far it seemed like it was tradition for them.

Once Penelo was all dressed, I took her to her mom, chatting absently on the phone and Aerith gave me a smile and wave to signal that I was off the clock. Good thing. I jogged to my room, grabbed my keys, wallet and phone and jumped in my car headed for town.

It wasn't too packed when I arrived, and I spotted Cloud's motorcycle in the parking lot. Thankfully, Vaan's car was absent, so I wouldn't have to face him just yet. My feelings were still a little weird when it came to him, but I figured it was just the potential I had felt with him. Nothing seriously stunning, but I couldn't deny there had been something there. Tucking that thought away, I focused on the blond spikes I could see in the distance, smiling when Cloud noticed me and waved me over.

"Hey, Cloud. Fancy meeting you here." Waving the waitress a signal for a beer, I plopped down on the same couch I'd first sat on when coming here.

Cloud grinned, "I'm always here. From the relieved look on your face when you spotted me, I'm assuming you were trying to find me." Leaning back in his own couch, he kept the grin intact. "So what's up, Hayner? I heard about your little situation with Seifer." When I winced, he shook his head, "No worries, Vaan isn't too broken up about it. No attachments created yet. But from what I understand you created one for your boss."

I glared at him. "Dude, seriously. Is there nothing you Irish keep close to the vest? How's a guy supposed to have secrets around here." I grumbled out my thanks as the waitress dropped my beer off, taking a swig to hide my discomfort. And here I thought I could ease into this conversation.

He laughed cheerfully, "Oh come on, Hayner, don't be that way." Clinking his glass to mine, he took a swallow. "Now, spill your guts already, what's going on?"

Sighing in defeat, cause really, he probably knew the entire story by now, I answered. "Well, it seems that Seifer and I have sort of a...chemistry going on. But apparently I did something or there is something that's really putting a crimp in the whole thing. At first I thought it was the whole age thing, but now I'm pretty sure it's not." I cringed. "I pushed the issue on Wednesday and from his reaction, it's not the age. But I didn't dare push him further to figure it out."

He chuckled, "Seriously, you want to get anywhere with Seifer Almasy? You're going to have to push, and I don't mean subtly, lightly, weakly, or just a tad, but like, really push until he's keeling down over the freaking edge."

He grinned, "How else do you think he allows me near him? I know I have the occasional streak of obnoxious, he wouldn't bear with it unless I'd pushed and made him see I'm not too horrible a friend to have." A quick shrug. "And you're right; it's not the age thing. He was with Leon, remember? Leon's older than you and I, but still younger and well, in a less mature situation than Seifer is." He reached up to rub his chin, thinking it over, trying to figure out the answer that had been eating away at me for days now.

"He's not into anyone else, that's for sure, I'd have heard about it... Aerith wouldn't stop him from dating anyone, even if he's ten years younger and her employ-" Understanding dawned on him. "It's cause you're the babysitter. It's icky."

I smacked him. "Of course it sounds icky when you say it like that! I'm an au pair. Pffft, babysitter. You make me sound like a 13 year old girl." Could it really be that? Of course it made perfect sense, even though I'd never really thought of him as a real boss since Aerith had been the one to hire me and all.

He slapped my hand away, "Well you are ten years younger than him and even if you got a fancy title, bottom line? You babysit his daughter." He shrugged again. "Also, Seifer is just really bad at romance, relationships and your general flirting and what not." Cloud burst out laughing then, rubbing a tear away as he probably remembered something. "Actually, I was being nice there; Seifer Almasy royally sucks at the whole making his feelings slash attraction clear to anyone. Disastrous, horrible, insanely incapable." Looking up when his brunette boyfriend came to join us, he tugged Leon down onto the couch beside him. "Hi!" A quick kiss. "Hayner's got a crush on Seifer."

"God, Cloud! Really?" My face probably couldn't get any redder at this point and not only because I'd known that Leon and Seifer had dated and now they really didn't get along.

"I was just telling Hayner how horrid Seifer is at relationships." Cloud continued to ignore that thing called privacy.

Leon hmmed at me, giving me a hard stare as though he was trying to read my mind. Nodding suddenly, he gave me a small grin. "Yeah, he really is. But for some reason, I'm kinda getting a stubborn vibe from Hayner here. Almost like he's gonna be able to handle it. Hmm, we'll see." Clinking his glass with Cloud's, he took a drink of his own beer.

Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Leon was actually encouraging me to continue to crush on Seifer. Raising my eyebrows at Cloud, I asked. "So, what am I supposed to do about the au pair thing? It's not like I can quit or something. Besides, Aerith is my boss technically. Not Seifer."

Cloud gave me a dull stare, "How would I know? I'm not Oprah." He looked at Leon, "I'm kind of sad she stopped airing her show." And then he shook his head, looking back at me. "Don't quit your job, he's hot, but not that hot. Just-" He was cut off by a jealous growl coming from Leon. "Oh shut up, you dated him for his ass and we all know that." Cloud pointed out, returning his attention to me. "Just find a way to show him it doesn't have to be icky."

I snorted. Someday, I'm going to feel more comfortable to razz Cloud about watching Oprah, but my mind was currently trying to figure out how in the world I was supposed to make things less 'icky'. Really, it all came down to the facts. Aerith hired me, Aerith paid me, and therefore Aerith was my boss. Seifer was, at best, an outside contractor or something, in no way connected to the au pair part. Yes, he was Penelo's dad, but I was only in charge of Penelo half the time. The other half, I was a normal guy, right? I sighed.

"What do you think Aerith would do if I hit on Seifer? Would she fire me?"

"Aerith's cool, I think so long you don't mix your flirting with working hours, you'll be fine." Cloud offered.

I groaned. "Still, how the fuck am I supposed to bring up this subject? Oh hey, thanks Aerith for the bonus this week, by the way, you don't mind if I participate in sexual acts with you ex-husband right?"

Cloud laughed, "He's funny. Hayner's funny." Another chuckle, "She's the one that introduced Seifer and Leon because she knew her ex-husband needed to get laid." Leon smacked him. "I'm not lying, am I?" Cloud protested, rubbing his arm. "Talk to her before making a move on Seifer if that'll make you feel better."

I dropped my head into my hands and let out a majorly whine noise. "I can't believe I'm even thinking about this. Shit! But really, you guys get it, right? He's really something..." He was just a bundle of everything that really sort of appealed to me. How could I not have the hots for him? I could feel my rational side rolling its eyes at my melodramatic behavior, but dammit, this situation was filled with drama.

Cloud nodded, "He's a hot sugar daddy."

I had the satisfaction of hearing Leon sputter and about to choke on his beer, and I laughed loudly, finally feeling comfortable with these two. "I'll talk to Aerith. Because I'm not going to do anything to get fired and if she's not okay with it? Then I'll just have blue balls till Penelo reaches college."

* * *

><p><strong>About a week or so later<strong>

"Okay, don't forget your seatbelt young lady." I tried my evil eye out on Penelo, getting only a giggle in return. Epic fail on my threatening demeanor with this kid, but at least she still listened to me without the threatening looks. "I'm watching you, ya know." I grinned at her.

"I know!" She responded, buckling up and settling in as she waited for me to take off. "To my castle, carriage driver!" She used the best snob voice she harbored, waving a weak in the wrist hand towards the front window, pretending to righten her invisible crown on her head at the same time.

That brought on a laugh. The little scamp. "Yes, your highness. Right away, m'lady." I mock bowed as I started the engine. "Will my lady require anything before arriving at her palace tonight?"

She nodded, "Do you know what I will be eating? I do hope my daddy, king Seifer, isn't forcing me to eat green stuff again." She grimaced, "Princesses don't eat green food, Hayner."

"Yes, m'lady. But this humble servant of yours does not know what the king has ordered for dinner." I cleared my throat nervously, hoping that I could actually pull of what I wanted to this evening. "I will be returning to Queen Aerith's to have a conference with her. I am sorry, m'lady."

Penelo giggled, shaking her head, "My parents are divorced, silly, mom lost her crown when she divorced dad." She really didn't seem to suffer from all the issues I'd suffered from when my parents had divorced. I guess a clean break up wasn't impossible. "Mom is very happy with Zack, but Zack isn't king material." She nodded her head at me wisely, pointing at the turn we had to take that led onto the road that would bring us to the farm, even if I already knew where it was, she always did this.

"But you know, I don't mind if you like dad." She then said, nearly making me grind the gears in a sputter type reaction of surprise. "I asked mom why dad is alone, and she said that he is because he's complicated and that because he's complicated, nobody has the motivation to put up with his silly face." She crinkled her nose; probably not sure she understood half her mother had declared about her dad with that.

"Mom said that dad has to get over himself and just admit that he likes you." She smiled at me then, "Dad's kind of shy though, so I don't think he will because like mom said, he's complicated."

"Say what now?" Really, I think there was something in my ear. I could not have heard that correctly.

She looked up at me with big eyes and a slightly confused twist of the mouth. "It was really hard to repeat all that the first time, don't make me do it again." She sighed heavily, "Mom talks a lot and fast and uses big grown up words all the time. Not the same as dad, because mom doesn't swear."

"No, just tell me that part again where your mom says that your dad likes me. Does that mean she wants your dad to say he likes me?" I was hoping not to confuse Penelo too much, but if Aerith was giving this whole thing a green light, I was gonna count this conversation a win.

She thought it over carefully, rubbing her chin as she took on a thinking pose. After a moment, she nodded her head, "I think so. She's very annoyed with dad for being..." She giggled, "I think she said he's uptight and a bit crazy, that if he just told you what he feels, he'd feel much better."

"Ha, yeah. I can see that. Well, I think that if your dad likes me and your mom doesn't care, then he should definitely tell me." I bit my lip and asked tentatively. "What do you think, Penelo?" It was important to me that I got green lights across the board from the people who were close to Seifer. Aerith was important, but I knew it was the little girl next to me that really had the hold on Seifer's heart.

She smiled, "I don't mind. You're cool, like Zack." Then she laughed, "But dad never says anything, if you want to know something, you have to ask. Pushing is very effective, like mom always says."

"Huh. Cloud said the same thing." I muttered. Fine. Raising my eyes to the ceiling of the car for a moment, I finally gave in. "Fine! I'll push! Sheesh." When Penelo looked at me, I quickly pointed out the farm, anxious to end this slightly awkward conversation. "Look! There's the farm!"

She raised an eyebrow, "I know, I've lived there my whole life." She puffed out some air then, "Boys are really weird." You've no idea kid. No idea.

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer - a couple of days later, Friday evening<strong>

I could see Hayner trying to smother a smirk along with Leila's mother as they watch me tug on Penelo's jacket. Ignoring them, I looked at my little girl.

"Don't eat too much candy, you know how hyper you get, and brush your teeth if you end up eating a lot of it anyway." I shook my head, rightening her pig tails, "Scratch that, brush your teeth tonight and tomorrow morning. I bought a new one, miss-I'm-never-happy-with-the-things-I-already-own-and-make-my-dad-run-out-to-the-store-to-buy-me-new-crap-willy-nilly-whenever-I-want." I gave her a pointed smirk. "I know you'll be up late as you'll be partying with all your friends, but be nice to Leila's parents and sleep in tomorrow to give them a break. No swearing, loud screaming or being difficult." I looked at Leila's mother, who was now not only trying to smother a smirk, but a full out laugh at this point. "There won't be any boys, will there?" I looked back at Penelo, "You're too young!" I blinked when she blinked. "Sorry. Just," I kissed her nose, "Be good."

"She'll be fine." Leila's mother assured, "I'll bring her back to you tomorrow early afternoon." She promised, reaching out to take Penelo's hand so they could go to her car. Standing up, I worried my bottom lip as I watched her take Penelo away from me.

"She's growing up too fast. I don't like it."

"I don't think any parent does, Seifer. But she's awesome. She'll be okay." I could tell he was trying to comfort me, and I felt him pat my shoulder giving it a squeeze before dropping his hand. "Come on, you can drink beer and brood on the couch till you go to bed." He chuckled.

I nodded, glad he understood. "Thanks." Throwing the front door closed, I marched over to the couch, plopping down, and doing just as he'd predicted, I began brooding. It's only when he held out a beer bottle to me that I realized I'd let him wait on me. Taking it, I gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, I could have gotten that myself."

He rolled his eyes, then plopped on the couch next to me, not touching but definitely close. Clinking his beer against mine, he then grabbed the remote. "Dude, relax. I was already getting one. Don't brood too hard, you're gonna get a headache."

I snorted, "Dude? Alright then, been a while since I've been called that." Chuckling, I decided to follow his advice and avoid the headache, pinning my eyes on the television.

Hayner settled comfortably into couch, smirking as he changed the channel, obviously trying to find something that wasn't a made for TV movie. "So, how are you doing this week? I noticed that you're back to talking to me a bit more."

I detached my eyes off the screen, frowning over at him, "I've never changed my behavior towards you." The slightly higher pitch and forced nonchalance could inform the ducks out in the pond across the field from my farm that I was lying through my teeth.

Hayner snorted. "Yeah. I'd believe that if you hadn't spent weeks communicating through Penelo to me. Next you'll tell me you aren't a natural blond." I watched as he took a swig of his beer, his eyes glancing my way, daring me to disagree.

I smothered a grin, "I'm so a redhead." And then I patted my crotch, "You're welcome to check and see if that's true." Wait... Holy fuck! Laughing first, my eyes then widened as I smacked my palm over my mouth. "Why am I like this?" I shouted against my skin.

Choking on his beer, laughing out loud, Hayner tried desperately to catch his breath. "Holy shit, holy shit. Wow, I thought it'd take a lot longer to get that invitation, but I'm game." His eyes were watering, but he was smiling at me.

I let out a sad, blubbery laugh, "He's game." Smacking the heel of my hand against my palm, I groaned. "He's game! This situation is so fucked." I declared, but before I gave him the time to answer or share his thoughts on that, I momentarily forgot why I'd held myself back all this time, tilting my body his way, my hand reaching up to grab the base of his neck, guiding his face towards mine. "I-"

Then I stopped, pulling my body away, but my fingers threading into his hair. "No. This is bad." But... Shaking my head, I turned my face back to his, tugging on his hair as I brought my mouth inches away from his, my breathing heavy as I was trying to make a fucking decision but couldn't seem to be able to grasp onto what that decision actually was!

Thank goodness he at least understood that much, because I didn't have to wait very long before I felt his fingers claps my shirt, pulling me those few inches closer so he could press his lips against mine. They were firm, but he didn't push me too hard, instead he paused, I guess giving me a chance to respond.

I loosened the hold on his hair some, scratching his scalp gently instead as I moaned softly against his mouth. I'd wanted this, very badly. Now that I was doing it? I was right for wanting it in the first place. Reaching up with my other hand, I cupped his cheek, parting my lips as to turn the peck into a proper make out session, my body sort of on auto pilot as I pushed forward, moving him so he'd lie back on the couch. Sucking his bottom lip between mine, I could feel my heart thundering as my fingers kept on scratching his scalp, the other hand slipping down to his neck, fingertips resting against his jugular so I could feel his blood rush beneath it.

Then I popped free for a moment, sort of contradicting myself as I nudged his knees apart to settle myself comfortably on top of him all the while saying, "But I'm thirty. I'm a dad, ex husband and kind of an ass." He was so, so hot...

"Dude. Shut the fuck up, stop thinking about it and keep kissing me, or I am gonna kick your ass." With both hands fisting in my shirt now, he yanked me back down on top of him, and moaned softly when my hips pressed down on his.

I choked on a groan, eyes rolling into the back of my head, "See, I knew I had the hots for you for a good reason." Reaching down, I grasped his thigh, lifting it over my hip so I could push my crotch firmly into his, grinning as I managed to catch his next moan with my lips.

His hands released my shirt and wound around my shoulders, massaging them as he thrust his hips up into mine. Releasing my lips for a moment to pant against them, he gasped, "Took you fucking long enough to do something about it." He smirked as his lips gently attacked mine again.

I chuckled through his kiss, "Hey, give me a break, I'm the old one here, practically going senile, don't blame me for being a tad slow around the edges." Slipping my hand down, I grasped his ass, kneading it as I hummed in appreciation against his mouth. "This ass..." I whispered. "I'd elaborate, but I'm thinking my erection is doing a bang up job all on its own."

"Yup. It's uh, quite an impressive reaction." Laughing, he pulled up the edge of my shirt so he could run his fingers along my back, urging me to continue pressing down on him. "And you aren't old, stupid." I could almost hear the eyeroll in his tone. But before I could respond, he was devouring my lips again, his tongue mapping out the interior of my mouth, lapping and coaxing me to fight back.

Giving him what he wanted, I deepened the kiss gladly, pushing down on him repeatedly, rhythmically, while moving my hand up to his side, sliding it under his shirt so I could touch some skin, his moans music to my ears and his body beneath mine- A higher pitch than his usual noise escaped him, body surging upwards and his forehead knocking into mine, all the while we nearly bit each other's tongues off when he'd reacted-

Sitting up, I grabbed his ankles, guiding his legs around my waist. "I guess you're ticklish then."

"I'll deny that till my dying day, Seifer." He murmured, out of breath now as we continued to move faster and faster against each other, his legs almost crossing behind my back while his moans were almost in time to my thrusting. "Oh god, you feel so good..."

Grinning, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him off his back, wrapping my arms around his waist to keep him in a sitting position onto my lap. "Right back at you." I groaned out softly, my lips pressed against his neck, and I let my tongue slip out so I could wet the skin there before gently starting to suck on it.

"Ah come on, Seifer. I work for your ex wife." He pushed my face away, only to position it slightly lower along his collar bone, as he fell back into a rhythm with his body. Murmuring in my ear while he nibbled along my jaw line he said, "Gotta be able to hide that hickey, ya know."

"Goody goody." I declared, before obliging him and leaving a mark slightly lower while my hands ran down his back, both palms grasping his cheeks as I held him there firmly so I could thrust up against him quicker and more harshly, getting greater friction. I wasn't sure how I felt about what this would lead too, coming in my pants? Hadn't done that in a while, and when you reach a certain age? It just feels so immature. Of course, the current horny state of my mind was blowing that off and going, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it! "Oh fuck, I don't know what it is about you, but-" I cut myself off with a moan, picking up the pace some more.

"Kiss now, talk later." He bit out, panting against my neck, before moving to cover my lips again. Suddenly, his whole body tensed while he pulled away from me to let a low moan escape him.

"You're coming without me?" I scolded before glaring and letting him drop back on the couch so I could move on top of him again, attaching my mouth to him rather fiercely as I worked myself to the edge.

"Your. Fault." He tried talking against my lips, before finally giving up and wrapping his arms around my neck to hold me against him.

Biting down onto his bottom lip, I made sure not to hurt him through that as I stiffened, a muffled but loud groan pulling out of me as the orgasm tore its way through. "Holy mother of-" Panting as I slowly came down the high, I kissed his lips softly then, my body relaxing as I settled back down on top of him properly, ignoring the sticky mess in my pants and his as my mouth slid off of his, my face resting down onto his shoulder as I tried to catch my breath.

He chuckled, pulling me more comfortably on top of him, his arms now loosely holding me in place. "Good then? Cause I think that it was fantastic." He pressed a kiss against the side of my head, sighing happily. "It's a good thing I brought some clean clothes over here, or I'd raise some eyebrows walking around in yours."

I chuckled, closing my eyes as I breathed him in. "If I didn't have an eight and three quarter year old daughter running around this place, I'd keep you naked and tell the eyebrow raisers to go screw themselves."

"Really? I'd be your naked slave for the rest of my life?" He hummed. "Sounds nice."

Kissing whatever skin of his I could reach on occasion, I couldn't help but ask, "Why me though, Hayner? Again, I'm ten years older, an ex husband, a dad, kind of an ass and well, I'm not sure cause I was looking through my front door window that's pretty small, but from the glimpse I caught? Pretty sure Vaan would beat me in a beauty contest."

His fingers trailed lightly over my shoulders and I could tell he was thinking of what exactly he wanted to say. "I can't really explain it. But I think it's all of those things together that really make you so fucking appealing. And dude, come on. You are the hottest guy I've seen in forever. Vaan looks like an adolescent puppy compared to you. Don't compare yourself to him. He wasn't what I want."

I grinned, "My wrinkles and occasional grey hairs are pleased with that assessment."

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner - A month or so later<strong>

"So, Aerith didn't say why she wanted to talk to you? Isn't that kinda weird?" I raised an eyebrow as I smirked at Seifer behind the wheel of his truck. It was strange for them to not say straight out what they wanted to, and I'd already accepted that there were virtually no secrets between Aerith and Seifer. I honestly found it rather comfortable that they got along so well. Still, it seemed odd that Aerith would insist on talking to Seifer when he dropped me off, instead of just explaining things over the phone, but oh well.

Turning onto the road that led to Aerith's house, Seifer shrugged, "Weird, sure, but nothing bad. She sounded happy and excited, so I'm guessing she's keeping it from me only because she wants to announce it in person." He parked the car quickly once in front of the house. "Don't forget to tell your mom about working on your math, Penelo. I know it's no fun, but if you work on it while little, you won't have to worry about numbers when older."

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. Although, women have always confused me with how their minds work." Penelo giggled and I turned around to stick my tongue out at her while unbuckling my seatbelt and climbing out of Seifer's car. I pulled her backpack out and handed it to her as she round the vehicle and watched her dash inside. "You know, I'm still amazed at how she always seems so happy to go from house to house. You and Aerith are seriously rocking the normal childhood for her."

I felt his hand land on my neck, turning my face so he could plant a soft kiss on my lips quickly, "Aerith says it's cause I'm gay. No sexual tension, jealously or lingering romance looming over me and her, thus making it easier to get along." He gave my ass a squeeze, grinned and then made his way into the house.

"Perv." I mumbled after him, smirking as I took that chance to stare at his retreating backside. Takes one to know one, I suppose. Still though, I couldn't help but feel that familiar twinge of envy of Penelo's situation. But I tried to ignore it, knowing there wasn't really any reason for the feeling. So what if she got the benefit of two parents in her life, two places full of such love and support that I knew she wouldn't have any doubts that she was loved or cherished when she got older. She was a lucky kid, and she deserved this. It just reminded me that there were some of us who weren't as lucky growing up. Shaking my head, I shoved my thoughts aside and jogged up the front steps to head inside. There was no point in dwelling on the past now. And it only served to depress me.

Hearing voices coming from the sitting room, I quickly made my way over and noticed Zack standing behind Aerith with one of his million megawatt smiles on his face. Well that answered that question. Something good must be happening. I came up behind Seifer, and nodded a greeting, waiting for them to spill whatever news they had.

"So..." Seifer waved his hand at the couple. "What's up?" He asked, but then just as soon reached up to cover his ears as Aerith released a high pitch squeal, leading Zack to laugh happily at her.

"Seifer!" Aerith bounced over to her ex husband, Seifer's eyes widening in surprise as he caught a hold of her, patting her back and offering me and Zack a raised eyebrow as Aerith hugged him tightly in what seemed to be sheer excitement.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Seifer threw at Zack, who only chuckled in return, walking over to Aerith so he could grasp her hand and shove the engagement ring in Seifer's face.

"I do hope it's bigger than the one you got her." And then he waggled his eyebrows while Seifer 'oh'd' in understanding at his ex-wife's funny behavior.

Laughing softly, he nudged Aerith into Zack's arms. "I was 21 and broke, believe me, this one is a hundred times better than the gum-ball machine ring I gave her."

I smiled at Aerith when she glanced at me. "Congratulations you two. I was wondering when I'd hear some wedding bells around here." Joking aside, I was really quite happy for them, and if those smiles were any indication, I could see that they were deeply in love and really deserved to have this kind of happiness. Noticing Penelo off to the side, I felt my brow furrow in worry. How was she going to take this? I mean, I know she adored Zack, but that is a big step up from 'mom's boyfriend' to 'stepdad'.

Aerith noticed her too then, waving her over which led Penelo to run quickly into Seifer's arms, pressing her face against his side while his arms wrapped around her automatically. Crouching down, Aerith tugged gently onto one of her pigtails with a smile on her face.

"Will you mind very much sharing this big castle with Zack?" Looking up at her dad, I saw a slight frown of worry, but when Seifer only smiled down at her and nodded, she seemed to let out a sigh of relief before moving into her mom's arms.

"I don't mind." And then she smacked Zack's thigh, "But you're not getting my room!" Laughing when he picked her up, tickling her sides, he then tossed her over to Seifer, who caught her without effort, settling her quickly onto his shoulders.

"I'm happy for you, Aerith, you two deserve this." Seifer said, leaning over to place a kiss on Aerith's forehead before shaking hands with Zack.

"Same here." I added, giving them both a handshake, and then I figured I better excuse myself so they could be together as a family. "Again, congratulations." Pulling away, I gave Aerith a nod to let her know I was going to let them be alone. Still caught up in her excitement, I'm not sure she really noticed, but I didn't let it bother me.

It was hard to really categorize my emotions at this point. My feet started walking and it wasn't long before I ended up in the gardens on the bench that was closest to my rooms, with my legs crossed, leaning back against the large tree behind it. At first glance it would seem that this development with Zack and Aerith shouldn't really affect me, but despite my best efforts, I knew exactly what was going to happen.

My contract had only been for three months, with the option to extend should the family decide that they would continue to employ me. With this sort of marriage on the horizon, I had the feeling that Aerith wasn't going to be working after she got married. Zack was a well off man himself, and with him working, she wouldn't need to. They'd no longer need someone to stay at home with Penelo, that somebody being me. So, really, while this was fantastic news in and of itself, it was effectively signing my resignation for whenever they got back from their honeymoon.

And that...sucked. I sucked in a breath as I felt my chest constrict almost painfully. This was probably the closest place I'd had to a home in years and I guess I should have been more careful not to grow too attached, knowing my employment could really end three months in. I sighed in defeat. Too late now. I'd even gone ahead and purchased more clothing and things that weren't going to fit in my suitcase, breaking the first rule of living and traveling in a foreign country. Only own what you can carry. Bad Hayner. Bad planning all around.

Glancing back at the door leading to the main house, I grimaced again as another thought hit me. What about Seifer? Once my contract was up, I'd have only a few weeks to either find employment or something else, or I'd lose my work Visa and be forced to leave anyways. And...Seifer. The guy I'd been becoming rather attached to after all these weeks. Where was this going to leave us?

I suppose, if he really wanted to, he could hire me as his au pair, but that would throw us way back in the employee employer thing that we'd barely managed to move past in the first place. Ugh. I took a deep breath, my eyes gazing up and telling myself that the reason I wasn't blinking, was not the tears gathered there, but because only cool people didn't blink.

"Hey," Seifer could sneak up on people like the best, not sure where he'd gotten that skill, but he'd done it again, making his presence known with his soft murmur rather than footsteps or a door closing. Sitting down beside me, he offered me a soft smile. "What's going on, Hayner?" Reaching up, he brushed his thumb over my cheekbone, his eyes fixed on mine, letting me know he probably could see I wasn't doing so good right now. "Or, do you not want to talk about it?" I generally didn't, which was why he assumed I didn't want to right now.

I didn't trust myself to answer without my voice being shaky, so I shrugged and quickly swiped my hand across my face. Taking a few moments to clear my throat and try to gain some sort of composure, I finally looked at him again. "It's kinda nothing too big. Just thinking and what not." I offered him a watery smile. "Wow, married. That's a pretty big deal, right?"

He gave me an amused frown, "Well, it was kind of obvious. I suppose it's a big deal." He shrugged, "They're good together." Cupping my cheek, he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against mine, whispering, "What are you thinking about, Hayner?"

Not fair, kissing me when I'm vulnerable. Stupid Seifer. I sighed, and then leaned back against the tree again, not looking at him before answering. "This just means that my contract won't get renewed like I hoped. And...I kinda liked it here is all." I glanced his way, giving him a half smile. "Ireland kinda grows on ya."

Now he pulled back, confusion settling on his facial features. "Oh..." He scratches his head then, "I didn't think about that..."

Shaking my head, I tried not to think about it for fear of what I might do with him sitting right here next to me. "Yeah, it sort of hit me all of a sudden as well. But...I guess that..." I tried to come up with something to say about what could happen now that I'd be out of a job, but I was afraid of what he would say if I started thinking out loud about my options. I didn't really know where I stood with him. I mean, we definitely hadn't been together that long, and I wasn't really sure what sort of advice I was willing to take from him.

Seifer cleared his throat, standing up and frowning down at me in a way that told me he was clearly trying to sort through many conflicted thoughts at once in his mind right now. It's the same one he'd sported back when he couldn't decide whether to kiss me or not.

"Miami will be glad to have you back, I'm sure." He grumbled out, blinking before he spun on his heel and marched off and out of the garden, leaving me sitting there rather dumbfounded.

"Okay...ow." I rubbed my hand across my chest, palming the center of it over my heart. "Seriously, ow." I chuckled humorlessly. Well, I suppose that cleared that up in some ways. Although, he was wrong about one thing; I'd never go back to Miami if I could help it. But at least he was gone now, which meant that the tears I'd been holding back pushed forward once again. I convinced myself it had nothing to do with Seifer's words and everything to do with leaving Ireland. Well,_ tried _to convince myself.

* * *

><p>AN: I am gonna blame this cliff hanging ending on Jasmine. I abused her as my beta last week as I was too lazy to go over what me and Reyaa had written myself. And I just felt the unbearable need to torture her:D If she wasn't such a good sport about it, I wouldn't do it;)


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: WOW. We got some MAJOR responses back on that last chapter, lol. Seems some people had some interesting things to say about Seifer. Which is really good and I'm glad that I didn't add this first part onto the end of that last one. Anyways, this starts up immediately where we left off last week, and I hope you all enjoy it. Back to pretty short chapters again, but no big deal. Enjoy:D**

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer<strong>

Slamming the kitchen door shut behind me, I was glad to see Penelo had gone and I was now sharing this space only with Zack and Aerith. Crossing my arms, I glared at them, leading Zack to pull away from his soon to be wife, about to take off and let Aerith handle me on her own.

"No!" I growled, "You wanna marry her? Gonna have to put up with me, tough guy, now both of you, sit your asses down!"

Aerith took Zack's hand, giving him a quick nod, "We better do as he says when he's using that tone. See the vein in his forehead?" Sitting both of themselves down at the bar, she send a knowing look my way, "It's a mean one."

"Har, har, Aerith. This is no joke!" I marched over to them, clamping my hands down on the bar so I could stare intently at the both of them. Inhaling sharply, I straightened and crossed my arms again before saying, "You can't get married, it messes up my perfectly awesome relationship with Hayner."

Zack snorted, "Is he serious?"

Aerith wrinkled her nose, '"Dead serious."

A frown on Zack's part, amusement killed and then, "Oh..."

"Why is my marrying Zack messing with your relationship?" Aerith asked.

I puffed out some air, "Everything is fine as it is right now!" I declared, "Nothing is complicated, I'm happy, he's happy, but now that you'd getting married? You'll stop working the moment Zack moves in, Penelo won't need a babysitter anymore, therefore, Hayner's job becomes pointless and he'll have to leave Ireland and go back to Miami."

"Unless you ask him to stay..." Zack pointed out.

I growled, "Yeah, but I want to try and avoid that."

"Why?" Aerith exclaimed.

"Because!" Right, now I had to give the reason for it to make sense... "It's not that I don't want a serious relationship with him, it's just that I don't know if he wants that. I mean, there's the age difference and the fact that we're both in such different places in our lives. I'm a farmer who's trying to offer a stable life to his daughter. I'm never going to move away from here or give him the adventures he's surely seeking. I can't ask him to give up his youth and dreams just so he can have a relationship with me. Because that's what it is, guys, if I ask him to stay? I'm asking him to settle down at age twenty." Groaning, I let myself sit down on the floor, leading Zack and Aerith to lean over the bar and look down at me from up there. "It'd be really unfair of me to do that..." I muttered.

"What if that is what he wants?" Aerith offered.

"We've only been together for... a month." I reminded, "Your marriage is forcing us to move a whole lot faster than I think both he and I are ready for."

Zack grinned at me then, "Tough for you, mate."

I glared, "Seriously? That's all you're gonna do after I just allowed you to marry my ex wife?" Aerith scoffed. "Oh shush, woman, I may be gay, but that won't take away the fact that you got your ex husband and future husband in the same room right now."

"Get out!" Aerith shouted, jumping off the barstool to round said bar and pull me onto my feet, "Get out of my house, go home, and then think real hard about your situation." I opened my mouth but she just started shoving me towards the exit, a small smile on her face. "WITHOUT trying to stop me from marrying Zack as a solution to your problem! Find another way!"

"Fine!" I shouted, turning so I could give her a quick kiss on the cheek before storming out of her house, frustrated beyond repair.

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner - the following day<strong>

I really needed to stop sighing like a girl, but I suppose after glancing around at the room I'd called home for the past few months, I couldn't really help it. After Aerith's news last night, followed by that, well, interesting conversation with Seifer, I'd gone through my meager belongings, trying to decide what would need to go in order for me to move.

So far, I figured I could get rid of what few extra clothes I had, and sadly, the bunch of books I'd found at the church thrift store that were currently piled next to my bed. My Xbox I could probably keep, but it would be a good idea to get rid of all the games that I'd already beaten. Ugh. I hated moving. At least I still have a few weeks.

My stomach growled and I realized that I had completely forgotten to eat last night, too shell-shocked from all the revelations to remember dinner. Breakfast first this morning then. Grabbing my keys and wallet automatically, I exited my room via the garden and jogged through the trees towards the kitchen. Opening the door, I was surprised to see Aerith in there. I figured she'd have eaten by now. It was almost mid-morning.

"Er, Good morning, Aerith." I smiled her way, suddenly grateful that she'd always been so nice to me and for giving me a chance to au pair.

"Hi sweetie." She murmured absently, reading the last bit of her book's page before closing it, pushing it away from her across the bar and then giving me a smile. "Can you come sit with me for a moment? We need to talk about the changes that are going to occur once Zack and I are married."

Gulping instinctively, I grabbed a cup and poured some coffee, then went to sit next to her. I put on my best interested and accepting face as I prepared myself for what I'd known was coming since last night. "Sure. Go ahead."

"So," She reached over, tucking one of my hairs behind my ear. It was a little weird how touchy she was, but she'd done this since the beginning, so I'd gotten used to it by now.

"As I'm sure you already figured out on your own, I won't need to work anymore now that Zack is coming to live here, meaning Penelo won't be in need of an au-pair any longer, as, well, what kind of mother would I be if I were to extend your contract and dump her on you while I'm here all the time?"

She smiled softly at me, "Believe me when I say this, Hayner, you are a blessing and I'm so happy you came here when I needed it. You made my life, and that of Penelo's, so much smoother by doing your job so well." And then she sighed, taking one of my hands, "It pains me to end our contract, it really does, and while I see no way around it, I do want to help you."

Her smile turned bright then, "If you want to stay in Ireland? I will help you find a job and an apartment. I have some connections in London, Paris and Amsterdam as well, which means you have options."

"Uh, thank you, very much. I've really enjoyed working for you as well." I could...stay in Ireland. Now, why hadn't I really thought about that last night when I was freaking out about being kicked out of the country? There were tons of places to work here, and here Aerith was offering to help me get settled on my own in a country that I was actually happy living in. I felt the first genuine smile since hearing the marriage news break across my face. "And as for your offer of help, I'd actually really love that. Ireland has definitely become a second home to me. Thank you very much."

She pulled me into a hug, "Ugh, you're so cute." And then she pulled away again, looking down at her engagement ring just for the hell of things, leading her to let out a giddy kind of squeal. "I'm so happy I get to get married to a wonderful man who wants to take care of me and my daughter, that my daughter likes him and that my ex husband-" She cut herself off, wrinkling her nose, "Well, he'll always remain a bit of an ass, but, I know he's happy for me as well. And!" She exclaimed, looking at me again, "Now my karma level will remain intact since I'm doing a good deed helping you out. Which I want. It's not just to make myself feel better." She assured, "I'd hate to see you leave. Penelo would miss you terribly and if I can keep you at a close enough of a distance for her to be able to visit you?" She sighed contently, "Ah, isn't life just wonderful?"

It felt easy to smile now, and despite the severe ache I still felt regarding Seifer, he wasn't the only one that I'd grown attached to. "I would definitely miss the little scamp, that's for sure. I've had a lot of fun with her." I could always count on Penelo to make me smile.

Aerith nodded along happily, but then frowned, pinning her eyes on me. "Did Seifer do anything rash?" Blinking at her, she groaned, "He did, didn't he? He probably said something that hurt you, or angered you, or-" She shook her head, "Did he freak out on you? He must have because after going to say goodbye to you, he stormed into the kitchen and demanded Zack and I don't marry so it wouldn't screw up the relationship he has with you." Okay, awkward, while Seifer and I didn't hide our relationship, I'd never actually spoken about it to Aerith directly. She was his ex-wife and I was her au-pair. Talking about it was just beyond weird. "Hayner!" She snapped her fingers in front of my face, "Focus. What did he do?"

Surprised, I blurted it out. "We broke up." I didn't mention that it had been more him than me at the time, figuring that the blame could rest on both our shoulders.

She blinked. "No you didn't."

I raised an eyebrow, not backing down despite the fact that she was my boss. "Um, yeah we did. There was a very definite finality to the way he said, 'Miami will be glad to have you back'. And then with the walking away abruptly, I got the message."

She shook her head, "Yes, see, you didn't break up. Seifer is weird like that, believe me, you'll get the hang of it in a year or two." She promised. "He came into the kitchen, saying Zack and I couldn't get married because it was messing with your relationship. Said that you guys were happy the way things were right now and that my marrying Zack was forcing him and you to move much faster than you are ready for."

She shrugged, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "He doesn't want to lose you, but as you've only been together for a month, neither does he feel ready to make any life changing decisions concerning your relationship status. And, if he were to tell you to stay, he feels he'd be asking you to settle down, which-"

She winced, "Well, he kind of would be because his situation sort of forces that." She puffed out some air, jumping off her barstool to start pacing. "How does he live in his own head?" She complained, rubbing her temple, "That man is exasperatingly complicated and tiring. Anyway," Leaning onto the bar, she took my hands in hers. "He cares for you, Hayner, and he certainly doesn't want to lose you."

"I don't know, Aerith. That really wasn't the way it sounded coming from him." I was very skeptical about this. He didn't want to lose me? That was all well and good, but either way, I was not going to be living ten minutes away from him in a month. And I sort of got the vibe that he hadn't left this town in a long while.

"Jesus Christ, you're just as stubborn as he is." She growled. "You want him? Yes or no answers, Hayner, come on! Quick!"

"Yes?"

"Great! You-" Her energy flowed out of her as she frowned at me. "This would have gone a lot better if I'd written my questions out. Also, I didn't expect you to actually listen to me." Reaching back, she braided her hair together, looking concentrated, "Okay, well, just know that what he said? Even if it seemed final? He really doesn't want you to go back to Miami. Just give him some time to cool down, and then talk to him." She nodded at herself, "Yes, talk to him. Tell him that although things are changing, you still want to be with him."

I couldn't really do anything else but nod along with her, already debating if I'd actually be able to talk to Seifer without wanting to smack him for leaving me hanging yesterday. Glancing at Aerith now that she'd paused long enough to take a breath, I wondered if I should really follow her advice. I sighed. I suppose it couldn't hurt. The worst that could happen would be that Seifer really did break up with me and then I'd be no worse off than I thought I was at the moment.

"Okay, I'll talk to him. It shouldn't be that hard. Unless he goes back to avoiding me again." I'd kick his ass for sure if that happened.

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer - Two days later<strong>

Wincing, I quickly pulled my fingers back, sucking them into my mouth, hoping my saliva would lessen the burning sensation that had occurred when they'd connected with the hot metal of the lantern planted into the wall beside Aerith's front door. Usually I could snatch it fast enough as to not burn my fingers, but apparently she'd changed the location of the spare key.

Frowning, I stepped off the welcome mat, kicking it up with my boot to see if she'd hidden it under there, my frown deepening as I still had no key to open the large front door blocking my way in. Great. I didn't want to ring the doorbell. Waking Penelo in the middle of the night made her grumpy the next morning, and me being the cause of that? I wouldn't hear the end of it on Aerith's part. But I really needed to talk to Hayner.

Tilting my head back, I scratched my neck, sighing and then shrugging as I really had no other choice but to break into my ex wife's home to talk to my daughter's babysitter, who I also happened to be sleeping with. A guy I wanted to continue sleeping with for a long while ahead and he needed to hear that.

Moving over to the window located beside the front door, I used the edge of it to climb up, groaning as lifting myself onto the rood ledge was a lot harder than I'd imagined it to be. It had been a lot easier ten years ago when I'd been trying to get to Aerith. Chuckling at that, I couldn't quite believe I found myself in this situation again, at age thirty. Once on the flat roof, I tip toed my way across, and then moved over to the wall where a garden bench was nestled close against it, allowing me to lessen the drop down to the ground. Once I was crossing the garden to go to Hayner's rooms, I realized that I may want to talk to Aerith about the security of her house at some point.

Trying the doorknob, I was glad to find out that he at least locked it, but was then less pleased to know that he'd left his bedroom window open just a bit, letting a cool breeze enter through there. Well, not entirely unpleased, since that would allow me to sneak inside. Pushing the window up, I climbed my way through, but before I crossed the hallway to make my way into his bedroom, I took off my boots, knowing how anal he was about clean floors. I was breaking into his private space, the least I could do was oblige him on his crazy and lose the muddy shoes.

Once I stepped into the bedroom area of his rooms, I smiled as he was laying the wrong way, spread out across the bed, his hair tousled, blanket thrown haphazardly over his ass and thighs, his feet sticking out of the bed, and although he denied this relatively stubbornly when awake, there was that cute snore of his.

Walking over to where his head was, I crouched down, placing a kiss against his forehead. "Hayner," I whispered, "Wake up."

"Tha' fuck?" Came a mumbled reply, followed by him rolling over, the snore returning. Smirking, I rolled my eyes and then sat onto the edge of the bed, placing my hand on his back. Now, I could either repeat myself, or... It's not like breaking into the house had been the mature thing to do, so it made no sense for me to stop myself from doing the following, just because an adult wasn't expected to condone such behavior.

Happy with that logical assessment, I leaned in, pressing my mouth against his neck, wetting the skin with my tongue before starting to suck on it gently. Since that didn't get much of a reaction out of him, I let my hand on his back travel it's way down, not even teasing him into things as I palmed his ass cheek firmly.

"What the fuck?" Suddenly, I was thrown off of him as he scrambled backwards, slamming his head on wall. I could almost hear his heart racing. "Dude...this had better be some sort of weird dream or something." I could see him glance to the right where his alarm clock was sitting on a table. "It's the middle of the night!"

Letting myself flop back on the bed, I groaned, "Yeah, I know, epiphanies don't exactly follow politically correct hours, waiting for the morning, most likely after nine, just to be polite."

"How did you get in here?"

"I climbed over the roof, went into the garden and-" Sitting up, I glared at him, "While I really need to point out to Aerith that her house security is lacking, you shouldn't leave your window open. No point in locking your door then."

My eyes were completely adjusted to the dim light, and I saw his jaw clench. "In the real world, there aren't people climbing over garden walls to climb in through my windows. I think you'll find that you breaking in here to be completely your fault." He crossed his arms over his chest and for lack of a better word, pouted.

I flopped back onto the bed, "Dude, I was trying to be romantic and shit." Right? "Just, can you stop being angry with me? I did come here to tell you things that should make up for my parting comment Friday late afternoon."

He sighed. "I'm not angry. But seriously, Seifer. You scared the ever living shit outta me." While he didn't exactly snuggle up to me, Hayner moved so he was laying next to me and turned so he could look me in the eye as best he could.

I chuckled, sticking my arm underneath his neck so I could pull him against my side. "While that wasn't my intention, it was kind of fun to see you jump and bang your head like that." He smacked me. "Oh come on! You laughed at me when I ran into that lamp post the other day. We're even now."

Turning to my side, I inched my face close to his. "When you told me about the reality of things? Their marriage making it so your contract wouldn't be renewed?" I swallowed, "Look, I don't want to end our relationship, Hayner, but neither do I want us to make a fast moving decision just because we find ourselves in a situation that sort of shoves us in that direction."

"So, what exactly are you saying? You want to be with me, but you don't want to commit to anything long term? What should we do then?" His voice was quiet, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

I quickly framed his face, kissing his lips, "No, no! I do want to commit, I just, we've only been together for a month. Hayner, while I know I don't want to break up with you, I just-" Groaning in frustration, I kissed him again, "I like you, so much, and what we have means a whole great deal to me, but I like to take things step by step, I don't want to rush. I've rushed with Aerith, made a whole lot of big life changing decisions because the situation we were in forced us to do that. I don't want to force anything, Hayner."

He nodded slowly. "I get it. There is potential here and by not rushing things, we stand a better chance of surviving. But here's a question for you. Say I can't find work and everything I need here, what will you do then?"

Pulling away, I gave him my back to stare at, "That's an incredibly evil question." Sighing, I ran my hands through my hair, "I don't know. When I say I don't want to end things between us, I really mean that, so if you really can't find anything?" I puffed out some air, "Then, well, I will ask you to stay, with me, in my house, and take things a little faster than I want them to go." Licking my lips, I grabbed a pillow and hugged it for the hell of things, "I wish I could offer to go with you, but you know I can't. Penelo is here, and I'll always be where Penelo is."

"What if I'm close? How far is too far away Seifer? I'm not trying to be evil here, or torture you, but what if I find something in Dublin? Are you saying that you'll never leave here to come see me? I'm not asking you to choose me over your daughter, but-" He let out a sound of exasperation. "I need some sort of wiggle room. Either I'm here or I'm out there. Is there no compromise?"

"Dublin?" My voice dumbfounded, "You're not going back to Miami?"

"I fucking _hate_ Miami." He sounded angry. "When have I ever said I was going back there? Do I talk about it a lot? Say I'm homesick? I grew up there, end of story. It's not my home. _Ireland_ is my home."

My eyebrows shot up in slight annoyance, followed by me turning back around, sitting up so I could look at him, "You never talk about _anything_, Hayner, and I don't read minds, so I'm sorry if I couldn't have foretold that. I didn't know you hated Miami and that Ireland had become your home." Sounding angry myself now, I continued, "If you actually talked to me, I might not be so clueless right now and make the wrong assumptions, but every time I ask you anything, you always tell me you either don't feel like talking about it, or just avoid the question, skipping it entirely."

He groaned. "Fine, I suppose you're right. I'm not like you guys here. I don't really like sharing about my past. It's just not something I'm used to thinking about let alone _talking_ about." Leaning back on the bed, his hands crossed behind his head as he stared at the ceiling, he let out a sigh and patted the area next to him, inviting me to lie back down.

"It's not a question of being like us around here, I realize the folks share a lot and are open, but you are particularly closed up. I would know since I wasn't always from Ennis." I muttered, still a bit frustrated with him, but lying down next to him anyway.

He chuckled weakly. "No, you're from Cali and the west coast. You're a whole other kind of weird." Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath, putting his one hand in mine and lacing our fingers together. "I was born in Miami, pretty normal. I remember a lot of sunny days as a kid, and telling stories to the tourists about alligators in the sewers. But then again, I also remember the fighting. Mom yelling about Dad never being around and how he avoided us; then Dad yelling that he was working three jobs to keep our heads above water, while all she did was spend the money on gambling. Let's just say I avoided the house as often as I could."

His voice was soft, hardly any emotion was getting through, but his hand was slowly gripping mine. "I ran around the neighborhood with a bunch of kids my age, getting into the normal trouble and everything. Before I knew it, I'd completely missed the splitting up of my parents, only coming home to find all of Dad's stuff gone and Mom suddenly having two of our rooms rented to college students." He paused. "It was weird, but after that, everything sort of blurs together. Almost as if I was unnoticed by everyone around me. Half the time, my room was being used by various kids, stopping by and needing a place to crash. As soon as I could get a job, I did. Then I was around even less. Saw my dad twice a year for Christmas and birthdays, but it was as though we were three separate adults living separate lives and not a kid and two parents. Well, I graduated, spent some time in college, before the idea of traveling jumped into my mind. Next thing I knew, I was in England wondering around Bristol looking for work. As an international, I had an easier time of getting a work Visa for other places. And then the career guy recommended Ireland as English was spoken here, and I could move right away. And here I am. Haven't spoken or heard from my mom and dad in about three years, and I haven't been back to the States in almost two." He stopped abruptly and his grip was looser around my fingers.

I let silence drag out through the room, knowing that I couldn't just answer anything for the sake of answering. If he hadn't told me, it's because he wanted to put it in the past and move on. I wasn't sorry I'd pushed him to talk to me though; I'd needed him to open up. While the past is allowed to stay in the past, to build a future you need to take a quick scan over the past to know what way to move forward. At least, that was my opinion on the matter.

Sighing, I lifted his hand to my mouth, pressing my lips against his knuckles, "To realize your parents don't act like your parents can't be easy. Can't say how that feels exactly, mine are pretty cool. I'm sorry you had to grow up so fast."

I felt him shrug and let out a breath. "Not a super big deal, but you can see how it's just easier to keep things to myself. Nobody has ever really cared before and you just get out of the habit of talking about it. Next thing you know, you haven't talked about it for years and then why bring it up? I suppose I didn't think that it was that important." He sounded sheepish.

Moving so I could straddle his waist, I framed his face, leaning in so I could press a soft but deep kiss against his lips. "You are important to me, Hayner, don't ever think otherwise. I want to know you, inside and out, but I can only do that if you let me in. Not just your past, but in general. So far I've told you what I want out of our relationship, but you still haven't told me what you want with it."

"Well, that depends on your answer about the Dublin thing. I'm still waiting on that." A smirk was playing on his lips, which was the closest I'd seen to having a smile on his face all night.

Smiling, I brushed the hair out of his face, "It's definitely more manageable than Miami."

"Then hell yeah I want us to stay together. I've...never had the sort of relationship where I'd be willing to make any sort of distance work, but I'm not going to give you up after all the work I put into this." His arm snaked around my neck as his face lifted off the bed enough for our lips to brush against each other.

Chuckling, I pulled back, "You're doing that move again, the one you know I can't resist. You'll get me all riled up, and then I'll have to drive home with a severe case of blue balls because you know as well as I that I won't want to do any funny business under my ex wife's roof."

He flopped backwards on the bed, one eye open and a big grin on his face. "I just wanted a kiss. I'm still dead tired, you crazy pervert stalker who breaks into people's rooms in the middle of the night. Get out before I tattle on you."

"Get out?" I repeated, "I climbed over a roof and broke into a room for you, just to be able tell you how very much I want to keep pounding yo ass. I'm not getting nothing at all?" I whined, "Can't you ignore your exhaustion and come back to the farm with me?"

He shook his head sadly. "I work tomorrow morning. It's the middle of the week and I've got to take Penelo to school or I'd be over there in a heartbeat, you know that." Biting his bottom lip, he peered up at me. "Can't you just spend the night? We'll just go to sleep; I was serious about being tired."

Groaning, I rolled my eyes and moved his body as to have him lay the right way in the bed before settling down beside him. "You're making me look very bad by being so responsible and good and shit."

He sighed. "Nope, just tired is all. You can be irresponsible tomorrow by sleeping in while I take Penelo to school. Happy?"

"You really are tired if you don't get that I am being irresponsible already." Smirking, I wiggled out of my pants, ripping off my shirt before throwing the blanket across mine and Hayner's body properly. "Try not to shove me out of the bed like you do, while trying to settle in the wrong direction of the bed again." His only answer was sticking his tongue out and blowing me a raspberry.

* * *

><p>AN: See? Everything turned out in the end, ya know? Except this isn't the end...and things may or may not turn out...*shifty eyes*


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yeah, sorry this chapter is so late. Been out of town at a funeral for the past week or so, and we just barely convinced the grandparents that they may want the internet...yeah, those kind of people, lmao. Anyways, hope you enjoy this;D**

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner<strong>

**Dublin- Four months later**

Grinning subtly, I watched my roommate lean over the bar, smiling slowly at a tall and lean brunette handing him a napkin.

"Why thank you, hot stuff," Tidus winked at the brunette, "I'll be sure to keep this somewhere safe and give you a call sometime." His smile turned into a greedy one when the guy tipped him, slid of his barstool and then moved back into the crowd to go mingle. Waiting to make sure he was out of his line of vision, Tidus groaned, letting his forehead drop onto the bar.

"Gaydar... It's such a lie." Pulling his head back up again, he grinned my way, tossing the napkin in the trash can, letting it nestle along with the five others he'd gotten a hold of tonight.

"Don't judge me, Hayner, if you put your eyelashes to use and bent over a little more often, you'd be able to afford that extra cheese pizza like I do every week out of tips alone too."

I rolled my eyes and served the two beers I'd grabbed to the guys who were waiting. "God, Tidus. One of these days you're going to break some poor boy's heart. And I will be there telling you 'I told you so'. Now. Please stop flirting with the boys out there, and get your ass to the back and grab us some more ice."

He raised an eyebrow, "God gave you a pair of legs and arms of your own, you know."

"Yes, but seeing as how I got it the last _five _times, I figured you'd give your ass and cleavage a rest for the night by pulling your weight." I snarked back before turning my back to him and taking the next two orders that came in. It felt good to snipe back and forth with Tidus, something we did often as he was also my roommate. I just hoped he was still planning to vacate the apartment this weekend. Seifer was coming to town.

He snorted, "Did you know Yuna got me this shirt? Says a V neckline on a dude looks gay." He shrugged his shoulders, moving so he could go to the door that led to the reserve. "I'm guessing she be right, since no one in here has figured out I'm as straight as they get." Laughing happily at his act, he vanished to go get the ice I'd asked him for.

Tidus, like me, worked as a bartender in one of Dublin's best reputed gay bars, called 'Pink's'. The place was owned by Marluxia, his hair was pink, hence the name. Tidus, unlike all other employees, was the only straight one in here. Marluxia hadn't actually asked him to act gay, he pretty much did it himself cause he swore the tips were better. I'm thinking it was because he was a huge flirt and got off in playing and pushing peoples buttons.

Letting my eyes scan through the bar, I caught sight of Zexion walking through the door, blowing the bangs in his face away as he shook the raindrops free from his jacket. The bar wasn't all that huge, very cozy, wooden beams lining the walls and ceiling.

The bar itself was made out of wood too, the shelves behind it filled with numerous different bottles of alcohols, wines, syrups and soft drinks. I'd been a tad worried about having to remember all of it, but it turned out, in the heat of the evenings the bar offered? You didn't exactly have time to worry about anything. With the amount of people passing through? You just had to keep on serving and socializing; taking a moment to wonder wasn't really an option.

Smiling as Zexion waved my way, he then turned his attention to the space that was located on his left and before me. Lots of small round wooden tables people were seated at, and against the wall were more private places to sit as there were wooden panels placed between the little round couches following the curves of their tables. The bar was long rather than wide, it was actually pretty narrow, but its length wasn't all that impressive either once it was packed, with not much air left to breathe through.

Actually, the best chance at getting a bit of space? Was in the middle what with there always being people at the bar to get drinks, or across it, by the stage, to listen and dance to the music the bar's musicians performed. Apparently tonight it was Axel's turn to sing, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as I could see his lips move in the form of a curse words, looking over his shoulder to have Demyx, the guitarist, help him out. While Demyx was always there, Axel and Roxas took turns. They both had a different crowd, Axel being a bit more flamboyant.

"I'll be at Yuna's this weekend." I glanced back to see that Tidus had come out front, a bucket of ice in his hands as he poured it into the ice bin. Snagging the tip in front of me and pocketing it, I nodded.

"Sounds good. Seifer is coming by this weekend and I was just going to double check that we wouldn't be clashing. How is Yuna these days anyway?" Thank goodness Tidus spent his days off with his girlfriend, that way giving me plenty of privacy with Seifer. I only got to see him on the weekends that Penelo was with Aerith, so when we did see each other...well, privacy was sorta a given.

"Yuna is fine." Tidus returned, partly climbing up the bar to point a finger in Axel's direction, who then winked across the room, leaning into the mic to start singing;

_"He... is twice your age...I'm guessing money is the reason that you stay..."_

"You fuckers. He's barely thirty." Grumbling and dearly wishing that I could chuck a handful of bar nuts at Axel, I tried to ignore the dig about my relationship with Seifer. No matter how many times I tried to explain it, they couldn't get past the age thing. I didn't understand it. Either way, I flipped Axel the bird, then decided to channel the British and gave him the two fingers.

Axel only grinned, _"Bless your soul, you got your head in the clouds..."_ He continued the song, the crowd appreciating it as they shouted out happily when Demyx started backing Axel up with the guitar.

"God, he's such an ass. Who's brilliant idea was this song anyways?" I gave Tidus my death glare, silently daring him to ignore the question. I couldn't really get Axel as far away as he was, but I wasn't above dumping chocolate sauce down the front of Tidus' shirt and ruining it. "It seems you were just waiting to give him that signal, so I'd tread very carefully if I was you." It's not like any of them had even met Seifer, and yet they were convinced he was some middle aged, overweight, balding guy who I was with only for the money. Or that he was just using me for some reason.

Tidus gave me a funny look, "Who do you think? You know I don't have the smarts for a move like that, Axel is a pain in the backside, but let's face it, he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed either. Demyx is too mother beeping sweet, and while Zexion is a genius, he don't give a flying fuck about Seifer." Tidus grinned, nodding at someone behind me. "Hey, Rox."

I whirled around, glaring at the smaller blonde standing at the bar with an empty glass and a smirk on his face. "You?" Rolling my eyes, I snagged the whiskey to top Roxas' drink off. He wasn't on duty tonight, so I guess that meant he was free to torment me through his red-headed boy toy. "Really Roxas? That's what you come up with?" The Best Course of Action? I tried not to let him know just how much I wanted to kick his ass for that. The more sensitive I appeared, the more they had an opinion about it. He tipped his glass in thanks and took a sip.

"Well, the truth hurts Hayner." He grew a touch serious. "So, Seifer decided to deign you worthy for a visit this weekend, huh? How nice for him." His tone was dismissive, but for some reason, my relationship with Seifer bothered him the most. I didn't get it, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let him insult my boyfriend.

"Dude, lay off. I told you already, he has his daughter every other week. It's not a big deal that he only gets to come out on certain weekends. Besides, he has to run his farm." I winced. Why did all of my explanations seem to make the situation sound way worse than it really was?

Roxas took another swig from his drink. "I'm just saying Hayner. It seems like he's just here whenever he wants to be and that he already has a life out in, Ecnis or something." He waved his hand flippantly.

"Ennis." I ground out.

"Whatever. Be sure to tell him we all said 'hi'." Wow. Roxas sober was sarcastic enough, but Roxas with a few drinks in him, sounded positively evil. Like he was really telling Seifer to go impale himself on a rusty spade.

In an effort to really work on not keeping so much to myself, I may have shared a bit too much with my co-workers these past few months. First, I'd let them all know I was in a relationship. Then came more stories about where I used to work, which led to how I came to meet Seifer, which morphed into the explanation about Aerith and Seifer and basically, I'm pretty sure I'd given them all the impression that he was some in-the-closet divorcee with ex-wife issues and a kid. Didn't help that I was the 'babysitter' to said kid. That just clinched it. He was officially a scumbag.

"I'll be sure to tell him that you're all going to pitch in and give me a week off next month so I can go visit him." Suck on that, Roxas.

"What?" Roxas sputtered, turning back after he was about to walk away, his blue eyes sparking with fury. "Hayner, what the hell? I don't understand you at all. I don't know why you're still clinging to some guy who can't even live in the same town as you because he's married and shit."

Roxas blinked when at that moment his boyfriend sang, _"Like when we creep out, when he ain't around..."_ This leading Tidus to snort, circling around me so he could punch Rox in the arm.

"That was perfect timing."

Ah. "It's not like what you went through with the guy you left to be with Ax." When Roxas only glared at me and smacked Tidus for his big mouth, I rolled my eyes and added, "Divorced, Roxas. Divorced. For like, fucking years." I stood my ground, something that I knew I needed to do. "Dude, Roxas. Back off. You don't even know the guy and that's totally unfair and you know it." I took a deep breath. "Now, don't forget to tip us. Remember, it's your night off and you still have to pay for drinks." I forced a lighthearted smirk past my lips, letting him know that this conversation was over, at least for now and that I was still willing to let it slide if he was. These guys were my closest friends here, and when they weren't razzing me about Seifer, we had a lot of fun.

I could tell that Roxas wanted to say something else, but he could read the warning in my eyes. If he wanted to step over the line and continue, then so be it. But I wasn't going to take this lying down.

"I can act gay for you if that'll cheer you up." Tidus offered, trying to distract the mean blond currently brooding over his drink.

Sighing in defeat, he turned to Tidus and smirked. "You know, I've heard through the grapevine that there was a certain tall brunette that was hoping to corner you this evening for nefarious purposes." He winked. "Better watch your ass." He chuckled as he tipped his drink to us once more and headed back to his table.

Tidus frowned in worry, "Hey, Hayner?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll walk you home and make sure no gay guys jump out at you."

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer<strong>

"Thank you so much!" Aerith grabbed my face, planting a kiss on my cheek before bending down and doing the same to Penelo before she ran back to her car, leaving me standing with my girl in the doorway as we waved her off.

"Will Hayner mind very much?" Penelo asked. Looking down at her, I smiled quickly, patting her hair.

"No, he'll understand, don't you worry about that." Our dicks might not though, however reasonable the explanation I had for not showing up tonight was.

"Snuggles and Cookie?" She asked.

"In your room, sweetheart." Smiling as she ran off to skip up the stairs, I closed the front door and quickly crossed my living room to grab the phone lying on the kitchen counter. Dialing Hayner's number, I sighed as I pressed the thing against my ear, hoping he really would understand. I'm sure he would, but it didn't make it suck any less.

"Casa of hotness, how may I help you?" Pressing my lips tightly together, I swallowed my initial comment back to that.

"Tidus..." How I did not like it when that guy picked up.

"Seifer..." Clearly he wasn't thrilled either.

"Hayner?"

"Yeah, let me just go toss him the phone." Some muffled sound before I heard a door creak, "Hayner, it's saggy bottocks on the phone for you." Excuse me?

"Fuck off, Tidus or I'm giving that guy your private cell number." Scratchiness followed then I finally heard Hayner's voice. "Hey, Seifer. Sorry about that. He thinks he's god gift to the unfunny."

"He's never even seen my ass!" I felt the need to point out.

I heard him sigh and then mutter, "Neither has anyone else around here, but they've all got an opinion on it." Throat clearing. "So, what's going on?"

Frowning, I shook it off and then got straight to the point. "Aerith popped over, dumped Penelo in my house and then pretty much told me Zack called in a surprise date while taking off at the same time before I could really tell her yes or no on the matter." Sighing, I rubbed my face, "I'm sorry, Hayner, I won't be able to make it tonight. But!" There was no way in hell I was calling our time together off completely, "I'll come tomorrow."

"Ah man. Stupid Zack. He's no longer on my Christmas list." He pouted, and then sighed. "It's okay Seifer. I know it's not something you can say no to. You sure you'll be all right coming tomorrow? I hate to make you do that cause you'll have to just turn around and go back almost."

I smiled, "It's worth it. I'll be there, promise." Then I growled, "Make sure your roommate ain't there, or else I'll be giving his face a free reconstruction."

He gave a light chuckle. "Nah, he's going to Yuna's. It's Roxas you gotta worry about. Snarky little fucker." Hayner's voice sounded tired, but he growled out that last part.

"What did he do?" From the many tales I'd heard about his co-workers slash friends, I'd gotten the impression Roxas was the one he got along with the best.

"Oh...well. He's just got some opinions about every relationship known to man and I guess mine is ripe for the dissecting. It's usually not a big thing, but tonight he was on one. Even got Axel to give his two cents as well. He's just...a know-it-all sometimes. Makes him annoying"

I blinked, "He's got an opinion on you and me even though he's never met me?" The fact that Hayner seemed so bothered with it had me curious, otherwise I wouldn't have suffered from the double take.

Sounding somewhat nervous all of a sudden, he replied, "Well, I guess I need to work on my whole sharing thing. Apparently I suck at it and now they all think you're some creepy middle-aged guy who preys on younger boys, all the while continuing to pant after your ex-wife. Ha ha ha. Crazy, right?"

What? "Yes, crazy." I swallowed the growl. Glaring at my fridge, I kept my tone light. "Axel probably doesn't blow him right, just ignore him." Licking my lips, I clenched a fist, "You get some rest okay? You sound tired. I'll be there tomorrow."

"As long as you're okay with that...I really do miss you." His voice grew softer and I could tell he was smiling. "And tell Penelo I said hi and that I put her drawing on my fridge. I can't wait til tomorrow."

Anger fading just a tad, I sighed contently at his words. "I will tell her that. I miss you too, she does too. Sleep tight, kay? See you tomorrow."

"See ya."

"Later." Hanging up, I kept myself from throwing the phone across the room, knowing the noise would only startle Penelo. Well that just wasn't going to slide. Dropping the phone on the counter, I pushed my opinion on Roxas &Co. to the far back of my mind for the moment, jogging over to the stairs so I could go tuck my little girl in bed for the night. I'd deal with that tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner - the following evening<strong>

Tidus was wiping the glasses dry, a gooey smile playing on his lips. "When I go to my girl's place tonight? She'll be wearing this skimpy little red dress I got her for V-day last year... God, can you just imagine how hot she looks in that?" Turning his gaze onto me, Roxas and Zexion, he grinned sheepishly as he remembered where he was, whistling a tune to deflect his hiccup while Zexion just shook his head, muttering out a 'dumbass' while glancing at Demyx, who was on the stage taking a small break before continuing on with the show. Axel wasn't standing far away from him, sucking water down greedily from a bottle, offering the occasional flirty wink at the boys trying to get his attention by the edge of the stage.

"Shut up, Tidus. Just finish those glasses already. You've been doing that, for what? Twenty minutes?" Okay, so that was way snappier than usual but it wasn't really my fault. I didn't need him reminding me that he was getting to spend time with his girlfriend when I hadn't seen Seifer in forever. Ass.

"What's got your panties in a twist, Hayner? Hmm? Get stood up last night?" Roxas clearly wasn't trying to keep the smugness off his face and I really wanted to use my rag to wipe it off for him.

I rolled my eyes. "God, Roxas. Aerith dropped Penelo off at the last minute, it's not a big deal. He's coming by tonight so fuck off." And really, I did get a small smile on my face at that thought. I was glad that I at least got to see him for a little while this weekend.

He raised his hands in defense. "Just saying. You're awfully bent out of shape. I'm sure there are some nice _local_ guys here tonight that could help you with that."

I looked up from the bar in Demyx's direction when he started playing that tune, the one that was code for something specific. While playing music was their main job, Demyx and Axel got kicks out of doing the occasional throw in short line of a song here and there. Much like how they'd played Rumor has it for my benefit last night. Assholes.

_"The minute you walked in the joint..."_ Axel started singing the lines that went with what Demyx was playing, _"I could tell you were a man of distinction..."_ Grinning, Axel pulled away from the mic, returning to his chat with Dem, who'd stopped playing the guitar at this point as well.

Leaning closer, Tidus peered over at the bar's entrance, "So, how much on a scale from one to ten?" He nodded at the guy who'd entered, the one Axel and Dem had pretty much labeled with 'hot guy walking in, alert'.

Before I got a chance to glance over myself as I was busy pouring drinks, I heard Roxas answer Tidus first. "Damn. Tall, blonde and built. I'd say an easy 9 with a 10 if the guy wasn't looking to commit murder. I've never seen him around here before. Hope he's not here to start something though. The guy seriously looks pissed. How about you, Zex? Care to share?" I knew Roxas was smirking, hoping to bait Zex into actually commenting on another besides Demyx.

"I don't eye cheat like you people. Don't know why I came back here." Zex muttered, jumping off his barstool to go towards Demyx.

I chuckled, going to give Roxas a high five. Annoying Zex was half the fun in this job. Unfortunately, my hand got stuck halfway there as exactly who my co-workers had been talking about finally came into my line of site.

"Holy fuck. Seifer?" I raised my voice, turning my high five into a wave to get his attention. What in the world was he doing here?

I barely heard Roxas give a stuttered, "Seifer?" As my whole vision was narrowed on him as he stalked over to us.

"That's saggy bottocks?" Tidus laughed, "Kay, I'm so outta here." And the whoosh of wind hitting my back told me the coward had gone to hide in the reserve. I filed away that comment for later, vowing that he would live to regret that nickname.

Finally reaching the bar, Seifer let the glare slip momentarily to give me a smile, reaching out to place his hand on the nape of my neck, pulling me halfway across the bar to plant a firm kiss on my lips, letting it linger for a moment.

"Hey," He murmured, "got here early so I could prove to your little friends I'm not fictional, or," He pulled back, staring over at Roxas, "A middle aged wiener, suffering from an oversized beer belly that cries over his ex wife at night."

Roxas had the decency to look properly mortified, but he still kept his chin up, giving Seifer an obvious once over. "So, you're Seifer? Well, it's nice to finally meet you." I couldn't keep my eyes off of this little standoff. I was curious to see if Roxas would voice some more of his opinions to Seifer's face, or admit that he was wrong.

Seifer offered him a tight smile, leaning against the bar as he crossed his arms. "Hi Roxas, mind taking a moment out of your very busy schedule passing out judgmental opinions behind peoples backs, grow a pair, and repeat all you said to my face?"

Oh, this was gonna be good. Roxas clenched his jaw and sat up a little straighter before answering. "As a matter of fact, I can do better than that. I can tell you exactly what I think of this situation. Don't you think it's a little _unprofessional_ to hit on your child's babysitter?" I tried to interject on that note as it had really been me, but Roxas didn't let me get a word in. "Or what about the fact that you're so much older than him? Am I supposed to sit back and not look out for my friend when all these red flags are flung in our faces? What about the fact that you've already been married, had a child, but suddenly you're gay after all of that? Sounds a bit suspicious to me, is all I was saying." At least Roxas was smart enough to keep his tone down and make no threatening gestures. I'm pretty sure Seifer wouldn't respond well to threats.

"For one," Seifer started, "Hayner is an adult and it's a little insulting for you, as his friend, to believe he's stupid enough to get himself in a situation such as you just described. He's smarter than that. Second," I saw Seifer's teeth grit together. "My marriage to Aerith is none of your business. But since you seem so hell bent on butting in anyway, let me tell you how that tale occurred."

Seifer reached out, tugging gently on Roxas' collar to righten it, and I could see a grin forming on his lips when Roxas very nearly cringed back. "I met Aerith when I was twenty years old, she was the same age. I'd just transferred here from America, and while this may sound unbelievable to you as you clearly are an early bloomer, I was a late one, so Aerith was actually the first person I'd ever been with. It's during my relationship with her that I realized I was interested in men, but by the time I wanted to call it off, I got to hear she got pregnant. Now, I can go into detail and explain that while, yes, I did step back in the closet, let's just say that her very Catholic father didn't give me much of a choice, and before I knew it, I was living under the same roof as Aerith, ring on my finger, getting up at 2 in the morning to feed my baby girl."

Seifer sighed, "I did what I thought was right, what I owed that woman and that baby girl. Eventually, we realized that love was a relatively important ingredient to a good marriage, so we divorced amicably, working out a steady schedule that would make Penelo's life as stable and easy as possible." Seifer's anger seemed to have dissipated some as he paused for a moment, letting all that sink into Roxas' stubborn skull.

"While I in no way will say it was all Hayner's doing," Seifer chuckled, "Let's just say that your friend is very persuasive and knows what he wants, and he'll push until he gets it." Taking Roxas' beer, he downed a good swallow, "Does that make you feel better about me being your friend's boyfriend? Or should I keep justifying myself for reasons I'm not quite aware off? You gonna back off and cut Hayner some slack?"

"I suppose I can admit that I may have been wrong." Roxas ground out, and I grinned as I wondered just how much it cost him to do that. Since when does any guy like to admit that? "But I just hope that you guys know what you are doing. Long distance dating sucks." Ah, Roxas. Can't quite admit absolute defeat to anyone. He nodded at me, before standing. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Seifer. I'm going to go find Axel for a bit. Later, Hayner."

Seifer grinned as he turned to look at me, "Does Roxas know how old Axel is?"

I cocked my head to the side, giving him a questioning look. "Um, I would guess he does, seeing as how they are dating and what not. Why?"

"Uncommon name, but I didn't think twice about it." Seifer stuck his thumb over his shoulder, nodding at Axel on the stage. "That's Reno's _older_ brother. You know Reno, you met him through Cloud." Pursing his lips, Seifer smothered the bubbling amusement. "I doubt Roxas knows his real age, what with him throwing a hissy fit about mine. Axel's 28, Hayner."

I whipped around in time to see Roxas give Axel a quick kiss between songs, wondering how long I could keep this over Axel's head if Roxas really didn't know. Fuck, I could OWN him with this. "Really? Dude, Roxas is barely 21. There is no way in hell he knows his real age."

Seifer winced then, "Considering Roxas' difficulty with large age differences? I'm thinking Axel is keeping it from him for that reason." He looked over at the pair, licking his lips, "See how the redhead looks at that little pitbull? Pretty sure that's love, _dude_." Turning his gaze back to me, he smiled, reaching out to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, the small moment making me realize he was looking at me an awful lot like Axel was looking at Rox...

Blushing at that look, I smiled at him. "Pretty sure Roxas looks at him the same way. Dammit, there's no way in hell he's gonna be that mad at Axel." Sighing in defeat, I gave him a once over. "So, what prompted you to come in here tonight and show yourself off to all my co-workers?"

"Saggy bottocks?" He said, "My pride was severely damaged, Hayner, I needed to righten it, and while I am in no way arrogant on a daily basis, believe me when I say I have no issue flaunting my looks out to the world, especially if it knocks some sense into your friends' heads at the same time."

I smirked. "My hero." Leaning in, I gave his lips a peck before turning back to the bar. "Okay, I've got about an hour left on my shift, and then I'm off, okay?"

"Sounds great." He murmured, "You want me to hang out here? Or toss me your key and we'll meet at your apartment?"

I glanced around noticing that more than a few eyes were on Seifer. Hmm. "Well, if you can behave yourself with all these boys checking you out, then why don't you hang out here and relax for awhile?" Can I help it if all I wanted to do was show off my hot boyfriend to those around here? Prove to those few who hit on me, that yes, indeed I did have a boyfriend. And he was fucking hot.

He chuckled, taking the beer I offered him. "You got me whipped, Hayner, I'm all yours and have no interest in anyone else." Sitting onto a stool, he settled in, surprising me with the lack of discomfort he seemed to be having in a place like this. He'd been in Ennis so long, first time he'd come to Dublin, he'd been a tiny bit stressed out, what with being forced to step out of his comfort zone.

"Damn straight." I clinked a glass against his and grinned in satisfaction that I was drinking with him.

* * *

><p>AN: Well, almost done with this story. Guess how many more we have for you people? XDXDXDXDXD


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Last chapter! And I know, I wish it was longer too, but the good news is, that we actually touch base in this 'storyverse' with our next story which will be posted...whenever I feel like it, lmao. I'm totally open to bribes^_^**

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer - A week later<strong>

"Stop bouncing!" I shouted, grabbing Penelo's arm and forcing her to stop jumping up and down in the passenger seat. See, this is why I didn't bring her with me to Dublin, she was hell in the car, couldn't sit still. The drive to the supermarket, that building being a fifteen minute drive away, was too much for her to handle. So, naturally, almost two hours worth of a drive to Dublin? Of course I hadn't considered it!

"Are we there yet?" She asked.

"No."

"What about now?"

"Holy mother of Jesus fucking Christ, Penelo Maria Roxanna Almasy, quit your yapping, sit still and be the good girl you sometimes pretend to be!" Nearly two hours of this. I had no patience. She had no patience. She got that from me. This is why Aerith avoided putting us in the same car for too long a drive, because we just weren't compatible in small confined spaces.

"Daddy, you swore." She sniffed her nose up at me, crossing her arms and looking the other way.

"Yes, I know, my ears are still in working order, thank you very much." I muttered, sighing in relief as the sign, 'Welcome to Dublin' finally came into view. "We're almost there." She squealed happily, the noise so high I'm sure my car windows were shivering, making me wonder why I'd told her in the first place.

"Oh my god! Look!" She plastered her face against her window, counting all the city lights she could keep up with.

I rolled my eyes, "You're so cute, it's not even funny." Reaching over, I tugged on her pig tail gently, retrieving my hand when I had to guide the car into the exit I needed to take off the highway.

"Did you tell Hayner we're coming?"

"That would sort of kill the surprise part of our visit, Penelo."

"So he doesn't know?"

"He doesn't know."

"Why are we visiting him?"

I sighed heavily, not too sure I was happy she'd entered the 'let's question all and everything' stage. "Don't you want to see him?"

"I do, but normally I only see him when he comes visit you."

"Us, when he comes visit us, sweetheart."

She giggled, "Yes, Hayner is nice like that." I nodded absently, concentrating on where I was going a little more as I had a tendency of getting lost once I drove into the city center. There were too many roads, turns, boards and stop lights I had to deal with.

"Are we going to his apartment?"

I shook my head, "He's still working, so we'll go to the bar."

"Would it be responsible of you to take your nine year old daughter into a grown up bar?" Blinking, I spared her a confused glance before fixing my eyes on the road again.

"Where the hell did you learn that?"

"Mom said it to you before we left to go to Dublin, you know, when you guys didn't think I was listening."

I chuckled, finding her annoyingly funny. "So long I don't give you alcohol, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Parking spot!" She exclaimed, leading me to hit the brakes and snag the spot she'd located. Once the engine was killed, I turned to help her unbuckle her seat belt, but she'd already gone and done that, making her way out of the car.

"Penelo!" Unbuckling mine, I pulled the keys out of the ignition, quickly climbing across the gear and passenger seat so I could follow her out, grabbing her hand before she could waltz off willy nilly. "We ain't in freaking Ennis anymore, kay? You gotta hold my hand and stay close." Slamming the door shut, I pressed the button on the key, locking the damn car while my girl pouted up at me. "That's not gonna work, and you know it." She reached up with her arms mutely then, willing to wait patiently until I reacted, even if it was going to take hours. Puffing out some air, I reached down, picking her up and tossing her onto my shoulders. "You're a brat, you know that."

She giggled, "If you stopped letting me walk all over you like a doormat, maybe I wouldn't be."

"Smarty pants." Cringing with a smile on my face as she started to sing the alphabet song, I walked over to Pink's, not feeling too hesitant about taking Penelo in with me as it was a Friday night, so the crowd wouldn't be too huge; it wasn't even ten yet. The bar would have opened only a couple of hours ago, and I doubted many people would come before the time of eleven, midnight.

Using my foot to push the door open, I smiled when Penelo curled her body, pressing her lips against my nose and staying still so we could pass through the opening of the door. Once inside, she straightened back up, putting her hands on my ears so she could start tugging on them for the hell of things.

Like I'd predicted, there were practically no people, and while I could see Axel, Roxas and Demyx hanging around the stage, they weren't set up to play music yet, leaving that to the stereo set for now.

"Hayner!" Penelo shouted, bouncing on my shoulders as she waved hectically at him, trying to climb down all at the same time. Rolling my eyes, I grinned and then plucked her off, setting her down so she could run over to him.

He looked up, surprise written all over his face as he came out from behind the counter to catch Penelo in a huge hug. Catching my eye over her shoulder, he raised an eyebrow. "This is a surprise. What brings you two out here? Did you forget something important?"

Walking over to him, I placed a quick kiss against his lips, allowing Penelo to push me away so she could keep him to herself for now. "No, nothing forgotten. Just wanted to surprise you." It hadn't been a planned out type trip. After I'd driven home Monday morning from his place, I'd gone about my routine the following days, waiting for Friday to go get Penelo and start my week with her. And then instead of driving back to the farm after having gotten her from Aerith's, I guess I'd just sort of kept driving... To Dublin. "I should have called, I'm sorry, it wasn't really planned."

He smiled. "No, no. It's fine. I haven't seen Penelo in ages. Come in. I'll just take a quick break and get you my key so you don't have to stay around here all night. Are you guys staying the night?"

"We're here for-" I swallowed my words. "Ah, yeah, the night, possibly the weekend, really depends on where you want us. I sort of forgot about Tidus' existence." I waved at said guy, who waved back, not too bothered by my comment. "We can find a hotel as to not make your apartment too crowded." I really should have thought all of this through...

Hayner stood up and let Penelo back on her feet, all the while with a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, I think we can kick Tidus out of the apartment this weekend, if you want. Or," Giving me a wink, Hayner dropped down to look Penelo in the eye. "We can bug my friend Roxas over there into giving us a discount at his parent's hotel. They have a pool and you'd even get your own room right next door to your dad's. How does that sound?"

Penelo grinned, "Which one is Roxas? I'll use my puppy dog stare on him."

Pointing him out, Hayner said. "The really spiky blond guy over there. Give him hell, kid."

Watching her skip over to the guys on the stage, I said, "Do remember to ask the question first so he knows why you're using the stare in the first place!" Spinning on her heel, she gave me a quick salute, and then went to do some damage.

"I'm not completely sure who she gets that from..." I muttered, turning to look back at Hayner. "I really didn't think this through. I should have called, or planned this out with you. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm kind of not."

"God, you're really fucking adorable when you're spontaneous." Stepping into my space, Hayner slowly put his arms around my shoulders, running his fingers up into my hair and tugging on it to bring my face down to his. He smiled and gave me a simple but hard kiss before taking a breath and pulling back. "Ya know what? I'm gonna take the night off. Tidus owes me and I'm cashing it in. Sound good?"

"I love you." I blurted, my hands automatically coming around his waist. "I-" Licking my lips, I gulped, "That's why I'm here, to tell you that." Oh, good going Seifer, very romantic. "That I love you." I repeated, just to make sure I made a complete fool out of myself.

The corners of Hayner's mouth pulled back into a slow and gentle smile while his fingers continued playing with my hair. "That's actually really great to hear. Cause I've been in love with you for a while now. Wanna get out of here?" Leaning up, he trailed quick kisses along my jaw to whisper in my ear, "So I can at least _show_ you how much I love you too?"

"Penelo Maria Roxanna Almasy!" Blinking out of my dazed look pointed at Hayner, we both looked back to see Axel laugh at Penelo, "I remember you! You were just a tiny baby last time we saw each other!"

"Tiny baby?" Roxas looked at Axel with an eyebrow raised. "How'd you see her then? Weren't you like, in middle school? And how do you even know her?"

"You're Reno's older brother!" Penelo exclaimed, jumping up the stage to try and grab Axel's red hair, by which she'd most likely identified him.

"Hey...I thought _Reno_ was the _older_ brother?" That was a pretty powerful glare that Roxas was giving Axel. "How old are you, exactly? And old enough to know better but young enough not to care is not an answer, Axel."

Axel's eye twitched before he nudged Penelo back in our direction, "Run. Run like the wind squirt, I've unleashed evil." He said dramatically, giving me a salute before turning his cringe back on Roxas, about to spill out the truth.

"Yeah... We should go." I muttered, giving Hayner a pointed look.

"Ah, man. I wanted to see the major event. Now all I'll get to see is the end result when they're back to lovey dovey tomorrow." Sighing in defeat, Hayner nodded to Tidus. "We're heading out. You alright back there?"

"Yep!" He popped the 'p', "And If I'm not, I'll call in Yuna and this place will clear out in less than ten seconds." Waving us off, he whistled his way into the reserve.

"Rox, we good on rooms?" Hayner called out, chuckling when Roxas flipped him the finger and nodded, without once taking his eyes off of his stammering boyfriend in front of him. Turning back to me, Hayner looped his arm around my waist and gave me a smile. "Well? We ready?"

I smiled, "Lead the way."

* * *

><p><strong>Hayner - two weeks later<strong>

Ripping my duffel bag off my shoulder, he kicked it out of our way once it hit the floor, using my back to close his front door harshly, his lips attaching onto my own hungrily.

"Fuck, fuck, so horny..." Seifer groaned, grabbing my hands so he could shove them up against the door, forcing me to stretch my body out before plastering his flush up against mine, his hard on grinding into my own. Well, I guess that meant that he'd still missed me. Smiling into his kiss, I tried to push back against him, gladly submitting to his attack, my own heart beginning to race as I had missed him something terrible. I was almost regretting moving to Dublin as the distance was just that small bit of annoying, but I felt like I would have missed out on a lot if I hadn't gone. And with Seifer willing to visit so often, it was doable.

"Couch, or fuck, bedroom." I tried to say against his mouth, and I wasn't sure if he heard me and with my arms pinned, I was literally his prisoner at this point. He pulled his head back, the dazed expression telling me he was slightly incoherent at this point.

"Blowjob!" He growled, dropping to his knees before me, he popped my pants button open, but before working the zipper down, he stood back up. "Mutual handjob, my dick can't take this." He changed his mind, opening his own pants, but stopping again as he leaned in to kiss my lips until I'm sure they bruised. "No, you deserve a blowjob." He backtracked, going down to the floor again, only this time he yanked my pants down at the same time, his mouth pressing hot wet kisses against my stomach.

Before I could really react to any of that, his fingers were already on their way to pulling my boxers down, and once my erection sprung free and I was impatiently waiting for his tongue to start working wonders on the tip of my dick, a knock interrupted us, leading Seifer to pull his head away. He frowned up at me all the while pushing my boxers back up over my nether regions.

"Who's there?" Seifer asked tentatively.

"Your mother. I can see you through that little window, you know. Pull your pants back up, Seifer Almasy."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I bit out, shoving Seifer away and rapidly pulling my pants back up and buttoning them as quickly as I could. "I swear to God if you knew she was coming and didn't warn me, I'm cutting you off for a fucking month!" Hopefully my whisper was low enough that his parents didn't hear and I could feel my face growing hot.

"Jesus ain't nothing to do with what you were about to do, boy."

Seifer's eye twitched, "Dad?"

I mimed a slash across my throat. "Dead meat."

"It's ridiculous how often we've walked in on you over the years. We did teach you what curtains and locks are, right?" Seifer's father continued cheerfully.

The grimace on Seifer's face couldn't be described. "What the hell you two doing here?" He asked, nudging me aside so he could rip the front door open once he deemed us decent. A man and a woman in their late fifties were revealed to me, the woman short and round with the same blond hair Seifer had, while the man on the other hand was matching Seifer in height, shoulders nearly as broad and now I knew where Seifer's glare and grumpy behavior came from.

"We wanted to surprise you." His father said, leading his mother to giggle as she reached up to grab Seifer by the ears, pulling him down so she could plant a big, short, noisy kiss on his lips.

"Guess we surprised you all right." Moving away so his dad could greet Seifer properly, his mother walked over to me, pulling me into a quick hug. "He's a cutie." Reaching up, she pushed my hair to the right, instead of its usual left.

Pulling out of his Dad's bear hug, Seifer quickly walked over to us, pulling his mother away from me. "Mom, boundaries, personal space, we've talked about this, you can't maul my boyfriend whom you've not properly met yet, wait at least until he's given you his name."

His mother shushed him, "Considering I got to know his manly parts before the name, I think I'm entitled to rightening his hair all I want." Patting Seifer's dumbfounded cheek first before doing the same with mine, she then moved over to the kitchen. To say I was slightly uncomfortable would be an understatement. Here were Seifer's parents, people I'd had no intention of meeting in the near future and they'd walked in while their son was about to give me a blowjob. Now, horniness aside, even in a normal everyday circumstance I didn't like being surprised, and then add in the aborted sex, I was a tad annoyed. But, these were his parents.

I sighed internally, and put on my professional and polite smile. I'd make nice for a few minutes, and then hopefully be able to excuse myself on the pretense of being tired from the drive. Hopefully they wouldn't be too pushy or demand a whole lot from me. And the touching thing...not a big fan of that. I glanced at Seifer, silently asking him what the hell I was expected to be doing at this point.

I felt a large hand land on my shoulder. "We ain't gonna eat you." Looking over to Seifer's dad, the man grinned, whatever grumpiness visible before, momentarily gone. "My name is Sebastian, but Seb will do just fine. As for my grabby wife over in the kitchen, she's Anne." Taking my hand, he shook it. "What's your name?"

"Mom! Don't re-arrange my kitchen, you know I hate that!" Seifer exclaimed in a shriek that sounded a lot like a boy would at age 14 when their mother walked into their teenage bedroom. Then he quickly crossed the living room to stop her from ignoring him.

"You have no system in here, Seifer." His mother scolded, ripping the can of beans out of his hands. Frowning deeply, Seifer pulled it back out of her hands, clinging to it, which only led his mother to poke his side, tickling Seifer so he'd momentarily loose his stiff posture so she could retrieve to can of beans again. Stomping his foot on the ground, Seifer glared over at Sebastian.

"Dad! Do something!" My thirty year old boyfriend whined.

Ignoring his son, Sebastian pressed, "So, your name?"

"You are ruining my-"

Anne laughed softly, "Gosh, I sure did miss you, come give me a hug." I heard Seifer groan, but I figure he relented as the bickering stopped for now.

"My name is Hayner and it's nice to meet you." Giving him a polite nod, I shook his hand quickly and released it, wishing that Seifer hadn't abandoned me to fight with his mother in the kitchen. All I wanted to do at this point was retreat. Be it to my room here, back to Dublin, or hell, I'd go to Aerith's if need be. Anything to not be here right now. Thank goodness there wasn't even a glimmer of my earlier erection.

"Seifer!" His dad shouted, leading me to nearly jump out of my skin at the loudness of it. "Get your ass over here and take care of Hayner, he's clearly uncomfortable. Your mom and I know our way around the house." Leaving me to join his wife, Seifer seemed to listen without protest as he rushed over to me, grabbing my elbow so he could drag me with him up the stairs, passed Penelo's bedroom and the bedroom I used to sleep in when I'd been an au-pair, to go straight into his. Closing the door, he let out a huge sigh.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea they were coming or else I'd have given you a warning, or an escape route, something, anything!"

"It's...fine. I just, was not expecting this and I'm wondering if I should just head back to Dublin? Maybe come back next week instead?" That sounded so cowardly, and I could admit that to myself. But I hadn't thought I'd be meeting his parents this week. I was selfish enough to want Seifer all to myself in the pitiful time we could share alone together and I resented that time getting interrupted. Petty and immature, but hells, I was only 20. Maturity could wait till I was older. I wanted my fucking boyfriend naked with me on the bed, not making nice and polite with parents. Rubbing my hand over my face, I tried to smother my feelings. I could do this for Seifer. It wasn't the end of the world and I suppose I loved him enough to not act like a spoiled ass.

He surprised me by laughing at me, "You think they're going to let you leave?" Oh... "My mom is gonna play twenty questions with you whether I have a say in it or not." Dammit. "But-" Walking over to me, he framed my face, "They go to bed early," He waggled his eyebrows, "And they know I work, so they'll probably go and entertain themselves during the day. Also, they're not just here for me, they're going to want to spend time with Penelo."

I bit back a wince. More questions from people I didn't know. "Well, I guess if I have no choice." I smiled, but held up my hand. "But, depending on my mood, I wouldn't be expecting any 'fun' stuff while your parents are here. Just a heads up." I hadn't been comfortable doing anything when I'd stayed with Aerith and she had her own fucking wing. His parents would be down the hall. Not happening.

He raised an eyebrow, "Cause you think I'm going anywhere near your cock knowing my parents are next door? I was thinking we go out and be all Brokeback Mountain like and do it in the freaking hay in the stables."

"Humph. I'll think about it, perv." I leaned up to press a quick kiss to his lips, feeling a bit of tension drain out of me. When you love someone, it's expected to meet the parents at some point. And they did come all the way from California to see their son and granddaughter. "All right, let's head back downstairs. Get this over with." Nodding, he walked back out of the bedroom, making his way down the stairs and letting me follow after him. Once there, I noticed his parents had gotten themselves some coffee, already comfortably seated on the couch, both of them smiling when Seifer went to sit on one of the armchairs nestled in that same area as well.

"My hate of phones isn't that bad, you could have called." Seifer said, clearly not all that annoyed with it as he seemed very happy to have his parents here. "I don't have Penelo this week." He warned.

"I'll give Aerith a call tomorrow morning, see if she'll mind us coming over to see our granddaughter." Anne resolved easily.

"Is Hayner gone?" Sebastien asked, leading Seifer to shake his head and point at me behind them.

"Where would I go? My cars blocked in." I waved towards the driveway, a playful smile on my face. It's the best way to break the ice, right?

His mother frowned at me for a moment before looking back at Seifer, "You live in Ireland, keep telling us there is no way you'll be coming back to America, yet your boyfriend is American. How'd that happen?" Waving me over, Anne then smiled at me, the frown gone which also told me she didn't really care I wasn't Irish. "You can never keep things easy, can you?" She then added, grinning when Seifer just rolled his eyes at her.

Turning towards me then, she said, "Now let's skip the how you got here, because Seifer already told us how you two got together."

"He told you, not me, we don't talk about relationships." Sebastien butt in before grinning my way, "That wouldn't be manly."

Anne laughed, "But you ask questions about it once Seifer isn't on the phone anymore. Now," She turned back to me, "Do you have any questions about Seifer you know only a mother can answer?" She held up a hand, stopping Seifer from protesting before he even could.

Despite my immediate desire to completely exploit her knowledge, I didn't want to embarrass the guy too much. But I was curious about what he was like as a child. He hadn't talked too much about his childhood, but not because he didn't talk about it like me. There was just more recent stuff to talk about.

"Hmm, how about his first date? Or first girlfriend? Anything exciting happen there?"

Anne frowned, "Well, as far as serious relationships go? You and Aerith are the only ones he's mentioned. But!" She looked over at Seifer, who hung his head. "Me and Seb are the ones that told him he was gay. He didn't realize it yet. He had a very large crush on the boy living across from us. When he asked me who he should take to the prom, I suggested the boy. That's where it all spiraled downwards. Seifer was very angry with us for assuming he was gay." She shrugged, "I guess he just needed to knock up a girl and be forced into marrying her by her father to catch up with the reality."

"You make it sound so classy, mother." Seifer chuckled.

"She was nice enough to leave out the part where you become so impossible? We had to send you across seas to calm you down." Sebastien responded.

"What was the boy like?" I don't really know why I was fascinated by his earlier crushes, but it was just some morbid curiosity. Maybe I just wanted to see how I measured up.

Anne giggled, "Well, he's always had a thing for blondes."

* * *

><p><strong>A month or so later<strong>

"We need to talk..." Tidus repeated the line Seifer had thrown at me through an earlier call, leaving me frustrated ever since. My fellow bartender winced, "That can never be good. When Yuna said it to me? And I went to her place to find out what it was all about? She then went on to tell me I needed to read up on 'clitoris', and that if I didn't and wouldn't get a grasp on the location of it? It'd be the end of things."

"You are so stereotypically straight." Axel said, tossing his drink back.

"Dude, as much as your straight sex talk is the highlight of my day," I glared at Tidus, "I do _not _need to hear about how long it took you to figure out a girl's body. It just makes me sad for you." I vigorously wiped up the ring of water left by Axel's drink before turning my glare to him and slamming a coaster down before he could place his drink back. "And it wasn't so much the wording, it was the fact that suddenly, I know there is some issue, whether it's good or bad, that's going to be the whole reason for this visit. It's like, why even say that? Why not just show up, and _then_ talk about something if need be. Now there's all this expectation and stigma attached to this visit, and I can't relax about it until the actual event takes place!" Roxas' eyes had grown wider and he gave me a knowing look as I slammed the rag back on the counter.

"Hayner, take it down a notch. You're acting like he's going to tell you he's pregnant. Which, last time I checked, is not possible for someone with a dick."

Axel chuckled, "Wouldn't that be funny though?" Wrapping his arms around Roxas, he pressed his laughing face against the blond's cheek, "Seifer pregnant... dear lord, that image is 'Saw' number-I-don't-know-how-many, material."

Ignoring Axel for the moment as he was clearly living in his crazy mind, I glanced at the clock and realized that despite feeling like my shift should be over; I saw I still had over half of it left. "Ugh. Fucking clock. I swear that thing goes slow on purpose."

Tidus suddenly started laughing, "Oh, hah! I get it. Saw, the horror movie." Reaching over the bar, he high fived Axel, clearly set on ignoring my mood.

"From all the stories you've told us about Seifer," Zexion started, surprising me that he was giving me a piece of what he was thinking, as he rarely participated in our conversations. "It's clear that he doesn't seem capable of handling serious situations with much grace. He avoided you instead of telling you he wanted to be with you, he told you 'bon voyage' when he heard your contract at Aerith's was going to end, instead of telling you he wanted you to stay, and... He drove all the way to Dublin without so much as a warning, daughter in tow, just to tell you he loves you. While that can be viewed as romantic, I should point out that it's not very graceful." Zexion shrugged, blowing the bang out of his face, "I doubt you need to worry."

I gave him a blank stare. "Actually, you've just proven that I need to worry as this is probably something big and he's trying to be spontaneous and romantic. Or he's not handling something serious with grace." I paused. "Well, maybe not _worry_ per say, but this is definitely not some random thing. But then again I knew that already and he clearly stated 'We need to talk.' I think I might have to kick his ass."

Zexion looked over at Demyx, "I told you it was better for me to just not talk."

"Aww, I thought it was sweet that you were trying to calm down the crazy person behind the bar." Demyx used his fingers to push the hair away from Zexion's eyes, showing us all for one brief moment that he did in fact have two.

Tidus gagged, "Can you two ever _not_ be sweet?"

Roxas snorted in his drink. "Yeah, right. You two have each other so whipped by now, I'm pretty sure you're 'kicking' of his ass isn't going to involve much 'kicking', if you know what I mean."

"Fuck off, Roxas. I'll bet you lasted 20 minutes of being mad at Axel for keeping his age, and then you two were back in the janitor's closet moaning for the next hour. And yes, we _can_ all hear you."

Axel laughed, "I'd be upset if you couldn't. Loud Roxie, means satisfied Roxie."

I scrunched up my face. "Eww, just...fucking eww."

"Last time Seifer was in the bar I had to wait fifteen minutes before being able to get the beer I ordered." Zexion butt in, "Granted, the bar hadn't opened yet, so you weren't officially on duty, but at least Axel and Roxas have the decency to make out behind closed doors."

"Oh snap!" Tidus exclaimed, high fiving a reluctant looking Zexion.

I whirled on him, flicking him with the bar towel. "Shut up, 'clit' boy. I'm never going to let you live that down. In fact? I'll be sharing that story with each one of your kids and then their kids and so on."

Tidus didn't care, jumping out of my towels reach, laughing, "Don't do it, Hayner, cause I'll make sure to give back the favor. Seifer! Yes! Oh, god! Harder! Right there! Hmmmm!" Tidus jumped over the bar to avoid my hands that so dearly wished to choke him. Tears in his eyes because of all the laughter, he started making kissy noises, "Jesus Christ, don't stop, Hayner! Faster!" I suppose I could give him creative bonus point for lowering his voice a bit to imitate that of Seifer's, "Yeaaaah, baby! Uh! Uh! Uhh-" He stopped the crude hip movements as he bumped into someone, leading him to blink and whirl around. "Why's your timing always so freaking perfect?" Tidus squeaked at Seifer.

Seifer covered Tidus' face with his palm, pushing him out of the way. "I sound nothing like that." And then he walked over to me.

"Actually, you do. Only it's always a lot more creepy because you make it sound like a starving man given a steak dinner. I would think at your age you could show some restraint." Roxas smirked at Seifer, tipping his glass at him.

Seifer returned the smirk, "Send me a card when your balls finally decide to descend their way down, I'll need a warning for when your voice finally reaches puberty."

"All right, all right. Break it up you guys." I decided I should step in before Roxas launched himself at Seifer with no regard to the fact that Seifer could crush him in two seconds despite Axel sitting there. Leaning over the bar, I pulled Seifer in for a quick kiss, silently promising him something more the second I got off work. "I didn't think you'd be here till later."

"Practically no traffic." He explained. "Slow night?" He asked, all the while looking around the bar, seeing only a few tables occupied. I didn't need to respond, the fact that all my co workers slash friends were sitting at the bar instead of actually working answered his question for him. Turning back to me, he smiled apologetically. "It's only when I was already nearing Dublin that I realized I used the cliché 'we need to talk'. Hope I didn't freak you out too much."

"No, there was no freak out." At Roxas' amused snort, I shrugged and smiled. "There was some..._slight _concern, I'll admit. Nothing else though." That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I glared around at my co-workers daring them to contradict me. I was pleased when everyone but Tidus walked off to actually start working, and while Tidus moved back behind the bar, he allowed me and Seifer our personal space. Seifer licked his lips, taking a quick scan around the place again before sitting down on a barstool, reaching over so he could pull me close and give me another kiss. He was nervous...

"It's nothing bad, or at least, I don't think it is, I hope it's not in your eyes either." He started rambling. "I thought about it a lot and I wasn't sure how to go about it, but I figured you wouldn't be comfortable with a huge, extravagant setting." Gulping, he darted his eyes up to mine and then back to the bar. "Or maybe I'm just not comfortable with the extravagant. Anyway-" He groaned, reaching up to righten his hair. "Simple is always best, right?"

"Okay...maybe take a deep breath or something and start from the beginning." His nervousness was catching and I was racking my brain for any clue that he could have given me about what was about to happen. Reaching out, I gently touched his arm for reassurance. Smiling at the touch, he grabbed the hand, lifting it so he could press a kiss against my knuckles before releasing and sticking his hand into his jacket pocket.

"There's nobody else I'll ever want to be with." He murmured softly before sliding a small wooden box over the bar and into my hand he'd put there earlier. "I love you and want to make sure the world knows it." He added, a very faint blush covering his cheeks as he retrieved his hand, leaving the opening of the box to me. Oh. My. Hell. Suddenly the bar and patrons, hell even the fact there was a giant counter separating us, everything just disappeared and my entire being focused on that small box in my hand.

Was this really happening? Was there really a...ring inside that box? There had to be right? I mean, this was a proposal, I wasn't confused or imagining things? I gulped, thinking maybe I should stop going crazy in my head and actually open the fucking thing and find out. My hands were shaking as they lifted the box up in front of me, and my breath started coming faster as I gently pulled it open.

It was made out of wood, just a very simple wooden ring, no decorations besides the small SxH engraved into it. "I didn't want to go out on a limb and make the assumption I knew what kind of ring you'd like, so, this one is just... well," Seifer shrugged, licking his lips nervously, "We'll go get you one I didn't make out of a tree trunk in less than one evening. I just want you to be able to pick it yourself, but I also needed a ring to make my message come over clearly."

"You...made this?" I asked softly, still too stunned to put two and two together.

He chuckled, "Yeah, Cloud dragged me to the wood work shop down in Ennis' city center. They hold crafting nights for noobs twice a week." Oh shit. I could feel it happening again. That familiar tingle in my eyes, the tightening in my chest and my heart beating hard enough to jump out of my chest. The ring and box were blurred as the tears gathering in my eyes spilled over down my cheeks and I noticed that my mouth was wide open in a huge smile. I glanced up and looked at Seifer, trying to convey the happiness I was feeling but couldn't quite push past my lips.

He grinned, "And here you were trying to convince me you were some tough guy these last seven months." Taking the box and the ring, he then set the box aside, taking my hand so he could place the ring on my finger. "You want this, right?" He whispered, "I know I do."

I quickly nodded, still not able to actually speak, though I couldn't stop the pathetic hysterical giggle slash sob that escaped from me. I couldn't seem to stop shaking as he held my hand. Gulping, knowing that it would probably a good idea to say something, I managed to get a whispered, "I love you," out.

Laughing happily, he pressed his lips to mine, returning the 'I love you' all the while trying to kiss me silly as he pushed off the barstool to lessen the distance between us. "I'm sorry your friends are seeing you cry, I know you don't like public emotional displays." He breathed against my mouth, his hands framing my face as he couldn't seem to let go of me.

"I really don't care. They can all just be jealous that I'm actually going to get married. I can't believe it." I trailed off, concentrating on his lips wanting no space between us. Holy hell, I just wanted to take him to bed right now.

"Hmm, Hayner, I don't think we can do what you want to do here." He pointed out while taking a hold of my hand that was making its way down his chest.

"I think I'm taking the night off. I am not going to be able to keep my hands off of you..." I could feel myself starting to really _react _to him being in front of me. Seifer's lips parted, and a barely audible moan escaped him as this time he couldn't stop my hand from finding its way downwards.

"Tidus!" He barked, effectively pausing himself and me in the process. "Cover for Hayner and sleep at Yuna's tonight." He threw at my co-worker before pulling me out from behind the bar.

"What?" Tidus shrieked, not that willing to help us out.

Stopping in his tracks, Seifer shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out thirty euros. "That should cover it." And then after throwing the money at Tidus, he continued on his way, dragging me along with him. I chuckled, my eyes constantly falling down to my hand to stare at the ring Seifer had given me. He'd made me a ring. And proposed. And I...wasn't freaking out. At least not in a bad way. I was excited, happy and that, more than anything, was a relief. Even the thought of moving back to Ennis if I had to seemed okay despite how much I loved Dublin. If I could just be with Seifer, I could handle it.

"You know, that's more than Tidus makes in tips by flirting with boys." I gently teased, perfectly happy that he'd done that.

Seifer grinned as he unlocked the door to his car, "Good, then I can say it wasn't a selfish act, but an act to spare some poor boys their hearts breaking over that idiot now that he won't need to flirt for tips for a while." I chuckled at that, knowing that it wouldn't be long before Tidus finally got his act together and settled down with Yuna. Then he'd _have_ to stop flirting with the poor boys.

Now that I was away from the bar and my co-workers, I hesitantly turned to Seifer as we settled in the car and he started it. "Um, we've never really talked about this before. Are you sure? I mean, I love you and I _do _want this. But as far as I'm aware, I was completely shocked." Blindsided more likely.

Driving off, he nodded at me with a big smile on his face, "I know, it hit me by surprise as well. I had Penelo on the phone this morning and after she told me how all of her fifty plushies were doing, she asked me why you and I weren't married, and..." The smile grew, "I didn't know what to tell her, because all that I could think of was, why the hell aren't we married?" Reaching over, he laced his fingers through mine. "I am very sure about this, Hayner."

"Yeah." It must be the reaction to the ring on my finger as to why I was gazing at him like a lovesick puppy. I could actually _feel_ my masculinity suffering as I just couldn't stop smiling at him. Before I knew it we were at my apartment, Seifer quickly parking and dragging me out of the car.

Making our way up the stairs, he said, "We're going to have some manly romantic sex to make you feel better about the gooey way you're looking at me. It's like when you get drunk," His voice amused as he guided me over to my door, wrapping his arms around me from behind as he kissed my neck while waiting for me to unlock and open, "you regret it in the morning."

"It's only because you won't let me live it down in the morning." I sniffed at him disdainfully as I tried to concentrate on digging my keys out. "And I still maintain that I don't 'snuggle' you." I shivered as his breathe tickled the back of my neck, my pants starting to feel ridiculously tight already because of his proximity.

One of his hands found its way underneath my shirt, his fingers sliding up to tease my nipple. "But I kind of like it that you 'snuggle' me." Biting down gently onto my earlobe, he pressed his body against mine, his hard on nestling comfortably against my behind.

"Fuck, open already!" I snapped, feeling triumphant when the lock finally yielded to my key so I could drag my boyfriend..._fiancé_ inside and get naked.

* * *

><p><strong>Seifer<strong>

Pushing Hayner inside, I spun him around, grabbing a hold of his face so I could kiss him fiercely, using my foot to kick the door closed. He wanted to marry me... He was right; we'd never spoken of it before, which is why I'd had no clue when it came to his opinion on the matter. But he wanted this as much as I did. He'd gotten all touchy feely the way he does when he gets overwhelmed, which I found really rather cute.

Although the cuteness was being smothered by the great amount of hotness that was being produced by both me and him right now. Reaching down, I quickly undid his pants, grinning against his mouth as he didn't skip a beat and went and started removing mine as well. Of course our shoes got in the way, so after an annoyed growl, I somehow managed to find the will to detach myself from him, pointing his way to just get rid of his clothing and shoes himself while I did the same, as it would go faster that way.

Once both naked, I caught a hold of him again, his arms around my neck while mine went around his waist, our kiss harsh as I began walking him backwards, guiding him to his bedroom, which at this point? Having spent many weekends here? I didn't need the light anymore to know where the hell his bed was at.

One of his hands snaked up into my hair, running his fingers through it like he loved to do when we had sex. His moans were becoming more desperate sounding the closer we got to his bedroom, till finally as the back of his knees hit the mattress, he let out a whine, pulling me so that I fell on top of him.

Appreciating the feel of him naked against me, I slowed the kiss down just a bit, wanting to bask in the lovey dovey of it all. "By marrying me I'm not asking you to leave Dublin." I whispered out in a soft pant, letting my hands trail down his sides. "I want us to spend time both here and in Ennis equally." Nudging his knees apart, I grabbed one of his thighs, guiding his legs around my waist as I pushed against him, moaning into his mouth.

Not really waiting for him to respond to what I'd said, knowing that my following action would most likely stop him from doing so, I let my hand slip down and between his legs, using the pad of my thumb to tease his entrance. His arms tightened around my neck, his hips pushing off the bed in a way that led me to groan in pleasure as he created firmer friction. As I started to get a little lost in the horniness of it all, Hayner sort of brought me back to reality as he pushed the lube bottle into my free hand. Smiling, I trailed some kisses down his neck, paying attention to his skin there all the while coating my fingers with some lotion above his head before letting my hand go down between his legs again, and this time I didn't tease, but pressed the finger inside of him.

"Ungh, that feels so good, you have no idea." He groaned out, his body pushing back onto the finger as his fingers gripped my hair slightly tighter.

I chuckled against his skin, "I do actually, you make sure to remind me regularly so I don't get the chance to forget." Moving my head down, I tongued his nipple gently, taking my time with the fingering, enjoying dragging things out and driving him to the edge but not completely over it on numerous occasions. While he tended to complain through a moan with the occasional smack on the shoulder for punishment because of my teasing, I knew he loved it.

By the time both our skins were starting to get sticky with sweat and he was groaning loudly at the feel of three fingers working their way in and out of him, I moaned in thanks when he pulled himself away, fingers slipping out of him all the while handing me condom. Kissing his lips quickly, I pulled away so I could sit up and work the rubber down my length.

"You know the dragging out thing is as much torture for me as it is for you, right?" I panted.

"Liar. You do it so I'll beg." He gasped back at me, trying to glare through his arousal.

Grinning, I leaned back over him, not wasting any time as I pressed the tip of my erection into him. "Maybe that's a little true..." I moaned as I pushed deeper into him. "Ah fuck..." I panted, planting random kisses onto his mouth as I gripped his hip with one hand to keep steady.

"Hurry up, already!" Without waiting, he grabbed my hips and pulled, all the while pushing down with his, forcing me to enter him faster. "Fucking finally...' He murmured, eyes closed as he adjusted.

"Uh!" Eyes rolling into the back of my head, I rolled over, pulling him along with me without slipping out of him. Once he was sitting on top of me, I pinched his nipple until he slapped my hand away. "How many times have I told you not to do that impatient, bump, shove and grind in less than three seconds? Brings me real close to coming and had that happened, your time of day wouldn't have seen sunlight because you know how useless I am after that."

"Don't care...can't care right now." And he started moving, one hand on my chest to steady himself, the other reaching down to wrap around his erection, slowly stroking himself in time to his riding movements. "Make a note and I'll file it away."

"Fucking hot." I bit out, smacking his hand away so I could work him myself, pushing my hips off the mattress, thrusting up in time to meet his. Licking my lips, I let my head fall back on the pillow, watching him as we continued to move in sync. Smiling, I grabbed his hand with my free one, bringing it up to my lips to kiss his knuckles, my finger sliding over the ring afterwards.

"I'm not even trying to last." He gasped out, locking eyes with me, letting me see as he was ready to tip over the edge into coming. Leaning forward suddenly, using his free hand to brace himself on the bed, he suddenly started to really pound himself on me, while his moans grew louder.

I didn't even get a warning or any of the kind. "Holy-" Sitting up, I roughly attached my lips to his as I was blind sided by the orgasm that ripped its way through, my hand still pumping him quickly as the aftershocks led me to practically bounce him on my lap. I felt his release on my hand, and he panted against my lips, still shivering from the event. 'I love yous' were whispered over and over against my lips, with an occasional, 'I love having sex with you' to make me chuckle. His body started to loosen in post orgasmic bliss.

Moving my hands around his shoulders, I held him against me, one hand in his hair as he relaxed, pressed to me entirely, his muscles seemingly no longer in working order for the moment. Laying us back in the bed, I pressed several kisses to his forehead, cheek, and corner of the mouth, sighing contently as I held him to me.

When we were both reaching that cozy state of almost asleep, I breathed in, my hands moving to rub his back gently. "I wanna get an apartment here in Dublin, for us, that way we can live here when I don't have Penelo, and I'll work on the farm's paperwork from there, and when I do have Penelo, I'll go to the farm, be with her and take care of the place in person." Kissing his temple, I pushed the hair out of his face. "I don't want you to feel obliged to move to Ennis with me during those weeks that I'll be there, but I'm hoping you will. You think Marluxia will hire you part time instead of full?"

His smile was blissful and he nodded. "He better be okay with it. Cause I don't think that I could be happy without you around as much as possible." He reached to the side and grabbed a few tissues, wiping us clean quickly and arranging himself in his preferred sleeping position, his head on my chest with one arm thrown over to hold on. "We can start apartment hunting first thing tomorrow." He mumbled.

I smiled, "You un-complicate me, Hayner, and it's awesome."

THE END

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><p>AN: Yup, the end. Just a bit sappy, but what can ya do. Next story features alot of people from this one:D I look forward to it!


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